State takes aim at meth epidemic.

Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard

SALEM - State leaders sought to tackle the growing methamphetamine epidemic on multiple fronts Wednesday, with the governor pushing for restrictions on the sale of cold medication used to make the drug and the Legislature opening hearings on bills to force the cleanup of homes contaminated by the drug's production.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski called on the Oregon Pharmacy Board to toughen its restrictions on cold medications by adding liquid and soft gel remedies that contain pseudoephedrine to a list of cold medicines to be kept behind pharmacy counters.

The restriction would follow the board's earlier action - also at Kulongoski's urging - to move hard tablets with that ingredient also out of easy reach.

Several hours later, state lawmakers kicked off their push with a joint hearing by the House and Senate judiciary committees. Bills considered by the two panels would go further than Kulongoski's recommendation by either banning the sale of all medication with pseudoephedrine or requiring a doctor's prescription for drugs containing it.

Lawmakers' proposals included several recommendations of a task force created by Kulongoski to tackle the state's meth problems. Key leaders of the Republican-led House and Democrat-controlled Senate have agreed on a spending up to $20 million for meth-related initiatives, including beefed up prosecutions and police work, treatment of drug problems, and increased imprisonment costs resulting from tougher sentences.

The meth task force, headed by recently retired Salem police Chief Walt Myers, told lawmakers that before the meth epidemic hit Oregon, cocaine was the king of street drugs. But a statistic he came across helped drive home the reason that meth has led to social and criminal problems at levels unknown when other street drugs ruled.

"Methamphetamine has more than three times the power of cocaine in creating addiction," said Myers, who described meth-related problems that range from crime - 85 percent of which he said are meth-related - to divorce and child neglect and abuse. He said more than 70 percent of the 7,000 children in Oregon foster care were put in the state's custody because of meth.

Several people who described themselves as recovering meth addicts told lawmakers about their struggles to overcome the drug's highly addictive nature and what it took to help them get clean.

Carly King, 24, of Salem, said she used meth from the age of 12 until she was 22. Two of her children are being raised by relatives. When a third child was taken into the state's custody, she took seriously the opportunity through drug court to fight her addiction.

"Not being able to see him was a very hard thing," she said tearfully.

King said she's now working and no longer succumbs to urges to steal so she can support a meth habit.

"I can go to work and not worry about who's watching so I can steal from my cash register. That's a good thing," she said.

In addition to cracking down on cold medicine sales, the pending legislation would:

Set tougher criminal penalties for people who allow children, elderly or disabled people into a home used as a meth lab.

Make laws establishing new crimes aimed at the meth trade, including the crimes of dumping meth waste, operating a meth lab, and distributing meth equipment and chemicals.

Crack down on owners of contaminated meth labs by setting a 180-day time limit for owners to decontaminate homes that have been declared unfit for use because they had been the site of a methamphetamine lab.

Create immunity for people who report what they believe to be activities involving meth or meth-making precursors.

Authorize the state welfare agency to suspend an individual's food stamp benefits when there is evidence that the person traded those benefits for drugs, and has a prior drug conviction.

While state policymakers sought comprehensive solutions to the meth problem, they also acknowledged how difficult it can be to stay ahead of those involved in the production and distribution of the drug.

The state Pharmacy Board's current restrictions on cold medication applied only to hard tablets because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency a few months ago held the view that meth cooks could not easily extract pseudoephedrine from liquid and soft gel tablets.

Now, law enforcement officials have discovered otherwise, Kulongoski told the board.

Kulongoski acknowledged that lawmakers were considering more far-reaching limits on access to cold medication, but told the Pharmacy Board that it could adopt his proposal as a fallback if the Legislature fails to act.

Despite efforts to take away drug makers' access to meth precursors in cold medication, Mark McDonnell, the prosecutor in charge of Multnomah County drug prosecutions, said only 20 percent to 50 percent of meth comes from Oregon, with as much as 80 percent of meth or its precursors being brought into the state by Mexican drug cartel operatives. Still, he said, tougher criminal sanctions on those who make and distribute drugs in Oregon would be a big step forward in the meth war.

"We need your help," said McDonnell, a deputy district attorney. "We need to take decisive action where we can."

NEXT STEP

The Legislature's joint hearing into methamphetamine bills continues today at 1 p.m. in the Capitol's Hearing Room 357