BILL WOULD REQUIRE ID TO BUY SOME COLD MEDICATIONS METH MAKERS USE PRODUCTS IN DRUG LABS.

Byline: Ruby Gonzales Staff Writer

Concerned about a nationwide ``epidemic'' of methamphetamine use, federal lawmakers are considering a bill that would restrict the purchase of over-the-counter cold medications containing an ingredient used to manufacture the illegal stimulant.

The proposed Combat Meth Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would require customers to show a photo ID and sign a log before they could buy cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in meth. The cold medications could no longer be displayed in the open, but would have to be locked up.

``Meth use has swept across the nation and reached epidemic levels,'' Feinstein said in a statement. ``The most effective thing we can do to make meth harder to manufacture is to put cold medicine behind the counter at pharmacies and require purchasers to sign for it and show a photo ID.''

Clandestine meth lab operators take over-the-counter cold and allergy tablets and remove the ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, which they then process to create methamphetamine, authorities say. Many chemicals used in clandestine labs are volatile and poisonous, posing risks not only to the cooks but to neighbors and people who encounter the leftover ingredients, authorities said.

Pseudophedrine and other methamphetamine ingredients are already regulated in California, but authorities say pills are often bought elsewhere and shipped to California.

California methamphetamine production seems to be way down in California: Only 673 laboratories were seized last year, compared to 2,579 in 1999, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says. The DEA said more labs now are being found just across the border in Mexico. Mexican organizations for years have dominated the production and distribution of high-quality methamphetamine, the DEA says.

While critics complain the bill would limit public access to medication that can be purchased without a prescription, supporters say it's more important to fight the manufacture of an illegal drug.

``We are definitely for it; we support it 100 percent,'' said Will Telish, director of the L.A. Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force.

L.A. IMPACT, comprised of representatives from the Sheriff's Department and city police departments, focuses heavily on illegal drugs, said Telish, who works for the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

Officials with Pfizer, the maker of Sudafed, could not be reached for comment. However, the company recently announced it will begin selling SudafedPE, which contains phenylephrine instead of pseudoephedrine.

Sheriff Lee Baca said he was curious about the bill and planned to follow its progress, spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

``Obviously, he supports any effort that will reduce production of methamphetamine as well as meth labs,'' Whitmore said.

The bill would provide grants for states to set up systems allowing them to track pseudoephedrine purchases. Stores would log the buyer's name, the date of the transaction and the name and quantity of the purchase.

Customers would be limited to 9 grams over a 30-day period.

Existing law in California already restricts buyers to 9 grams of pseudoephedrine at one time.

Called ``speed,'' ``crank,'' ``ice'' or ``crystal,'' meth can be smoked, inhaled and injected. A gram of meth typically costs $50 to $60. The wholesale price for a pound of ice - a pure form of meth - ranges from $8,000 to $11,000.

The model for the proposed federal bill is an Oklahoma law that took effect in April 2004.

Oklahoma saw meth labs go from 10 in 1994 to 1,233 in 2003, said Mark Woodward spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. About 99 percent of these are drug addicts who cook meth for themselves and not for distribution, he explained.

Staff Writer Charles F. Bostwick contributed to this report.

Ruby Gonzales, [phone]

ruby.gonzales(at)sgvn.com

WHAT THE NEW LAW WOULD DO:

Here are highlights of the proposed Combat Meth Act:

--Provide grants so states can monitor the sale of pseudoephedrine, which can be used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Customers would be limited to 9 grams over a 30-day period. California law currently restricts buyers to 9 grams of pseudoephedrine in a single purchase.

--Provide $15 million under the Community Oriented Policing Services program to train state and local police to investigate and arrest meth offenders.

--Provide $5 million to hire and train more federal prosecutors to handle meth cases.

--Provide $5 million in grants for multi-agency teams to help children who have been exposed to meth because they lived in or were present in a home-based drug lab.

--Create a research center to look into treatments for meth abuse.

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WHAT THE NEW LAW WOULD DO (see text)