USA: Bills to combat methamphetamine advance in Legislature

PHOENIX - Legislators are hoping to mount a multi-pronged attack on methamphetamine, an illegal stimulant considered a scourge of many communities.

The House has voted to toughen existing restrictions on retail sales of over-the-counter cold medications that contain a decongestant that is a precursor chemical for making methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, another bill advancing in the Legislature would provide millions of dollars for anti-meth programs, including stepped-up law enforcement, addict treatment and, possibly, public service announcements aimed at young people.

Authorities say methamphetamine use is closely tied to property and violent crimes and is a factor in many child neglect and identity theft cases. Toxic fumes from meth production pose a health hazard to anyone inside a makeshift lab.

The House's 43-14 vote Thursday night in favor of the sales restriction bill (HB2815) will send the measure with bipartisan backing to the Senate and an uncertain fate.

Similar legislation ran into strong opposition in the Senate chamber last year, and lawmakers ultimately ended months of debate by enacting passing a stripped-down version that toughened penalties for methamphetamine production.

The 2005 legislation also required that products containing the precursor chemical, pseudoephedrine, be removed from stores' regular shelves and instead be kept behind counters, out of the reach of customers.

The current bill approved by the House, sponsored by Republican Rep. Tom O'Halleran of Sedona and championed by Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard, is modeled after a 2004 law enacted by Oklahoma.

Products containing pseudoephedrine could be dispensed only through a pharmacy, purchase quantities would be limited to nine grams a month and customers would have to be at least 18 years old, show photo identification and record their purchases in a logbook intended to help law enforcement officers spot people buying meth ingredients.

Some Arizona communities also have enacted similar restrictions at the urging of Goddard, who called last year's legislative action "a capitulation to the pharmaceutical industry."

Goddard says the sales restrictions have proven effective elsewhere in reducing the number of clandestine meth labs.

"Arizona citizens deserve this protection," he told a House committee last month.

Critics argue that the logbook requirement could subject customers to risk of identity theft, that the retail restrictions would burden businesses and that the measure isn't needed in the first place because most methamphetamine now is smuggled from Mexico rather than produced in Arizona home labs.

"We ought to deal with the real serious problem and that's the border," said Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa.

The Senate has already begun considering a bill (HB2554) sponsored by Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa.

As passed by the House, the bill would provide $12 million for law enforcement and abuse treatment and prevention programs, much of it targeted to combat methamphetamine use.

A Senate committee has increased the bill's proposed spending to $20.5 million, including $8.5 million for public service announcements to warn children about "physical deterioration" and the risk of death associated with using methamphetamine.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 10 March 2006
Source: Tucson Citizen (United States - Web)
Email: letters@tucsoncitizen.com
Copyright: 2006 Tucson Citizen
Website: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com