COLD MEDICINE BILL AIMED AT METH LABS ID, SIGNATURE WOULD BE REQUIRED TO BUY SUDAFED.

Byline: Ruby Gonzales Staff Writer

Federal lawmakers want people to show a photo ID and sign their names before they can buy cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine.

The idea is to make it harder for crooks who cook the highly addictive drug by restricting the source of a key ingredient.

The bill proposed by Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would put cold medicine like Sudafed locked up behind the pharmacist's counter. It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 24.

``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.''

The bill copies an Oklahoma law credited with reducing by 80 percent the number of meth labs seized in that state.

Critics of the bill say it would limit the public's access to a medication available over the counter.

Supporters argue it would restrict meth manufacturers' source of pseudoephedrine and also help police with their investigations.

``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 is composed of representatives from the Sheriff's Department and city police departments. Most of what it does is focus on narcotics, said Telish, who works for the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

The bill would have an effect on meth manufacturing but it will not be a panacea, he added.

``It lessens the availability to do those things and gives us people to target,'' Telish said.

Clandestine meth lab operators soak over-the-counter cold and allergy tablets in water or alcohol to 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 meth production seems to be way down: 673 laboratories were seized last year, compared with 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.

Pfizer officials couldn't be reached for comment. The company, which makes Sudafed, recently announced it is making available in the U.S. market SudafedPE, a new cold medicine that has phenylephrine instead of pseudoephedrine.

Sheriff Lee Baca is curious about the bill and will follow it steadfastly, said his spokesman, Steve Whitmore.

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

If the bill passes, the buyer's name, the date of the transaction plus the name of the product and how much of it was bought would be logged. 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. Price depends on quality, source, supply and demand, Telish said. A gram of meth currently goes for $50 to $60.

The wholesale price for a pound of ice - a pure form of meth - ranges from $8,000 to $11,000.

Police say it's much harder to extract pseudoephedrine from gels than from pills. And they've only seen meth cooks use the cold pills.

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

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 said.

State drug task forces were averaging about 100 meth lab seizures a month, he said. After the law took effect, they're now averaging about 20 drug labs a month.

``It cut them tremendously,'' Woodward said.

``For the first three months of last year, we were on phase to reach a record. After the law, it dropped. Now they're having to go to other states.''

Charles F. Bostwick contributed to this story. Ruby Gonzales can be reached at [phone], Ext. 2718, or by e-mail at ruby.gonzales(at)sgvn.com.