RUNNER APPLAUDS NEW LAW TO CURB METH PRODUCTION.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

Methamphetamine manufacturers will find it harder to buy a key component because of a new law that limits the sale of over-the-counter cold, allergy and asthma medication.

Assembly Bill 162 makes it a misdemeanor for a retail distributor to sell any customer more than three packages, or nine grams, of any product containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine.

``One of the reasons that meth is so popular is because it is easy and cheap to manufacture,'' said Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, the bill's author. ``This bill will provide yet another hurdle in the manufacturing of the drug. Methamphetamine manufacturers won't be able to buy these products in bulk and it will slow down the process.''

Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are extracted from liquid and solid forms by a simple process and then used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant whose popularity has skyrocketed in recent years among illicit drug users.

Laws already in place allow cities and counties to place their own restrictions on the sale of the medications containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine but some jurisdictions have not done so.

Signed by Gov. Gray Davis on Oct. 10, AB 162 would standardize the regulations throughout the state.

``It's just another arrow in the quiver,'' said Lancaster sheriff's station Capt. Tom Pigott, a supporter of the bill. ``We're not going to eliminate drug production, we're not naive enough to believe that, but we have to attack from all angles and this will hit the manufacturer.''

Known as crystal, speed, crank, or the ``poor man's'' cocaine, meth is produced using common household items including various medications, lighter fluids, solvents, and chemical drain cleaner.

Labs which used to be found solely in sparsely populated areas are turning up more often in residential neighborhoods and apartments - a worry to authorities because the components are both poisonous and explosive.

In the past two years, more than 80 labs have been found throughout the Antelope Valley.

Of the 3,100 labs found nationwide last year, 55 percent were in California with 71 percent of those being in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside counties, according to Walter Allen III of the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

``We still need stiffer penalties for the manufacturer and the user,'' said Runner.

``But this will serve as a deterrent and anything we can do to slow down the production of this dangerous drug is well worth it.''