Link to article here .
Governor's order links cold-pill purchases, ID
The rules, aiming to curtail widespread methamphetamine production in Oregon, will be among the nation's toughest
Saturday, October 02, 2004
JOSEPH ROSE
SALEM -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski issued an order Friday that will require people buying over-the-counter cold medicines such as Sudafed in Oregon to show identification and leave personal information at the register.
The new rules, which go into effect Oct. 13, are designed to slow the state's do-it-yourself methamphetamine problem.
Popular cold remedies contain ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, the main ingredients in the manufacture of the powerfully addictive and cheap street drug.
Meth abuse is particularly widespread in Oregon, which treats more people for meth addiction per capita than any other state in the country.
At a news conference, Kulongoski said methamphetamine has mutated into one of the most devastating public safety epidemics the state has faced, fueling crime, tearing apart families and creating toxic dumpsites in neighborhoods.
"Meth labs exist in Oregon homes, hotels, motels, apartments and even in automobiles," he said. "They're just as likely to be found in rural communities as they are in big cities."
The new guidelines, modeled after an Oklahoma law credited for a dramatic drop in illegal meth labs in that state, will be among the strictest in the nation.
In less than two weeks, medications with ephedrine and pseudoephedrine will become truly over the counter. Purchasers must go to a store's pharmacy counter or front register and show identification.
"Vendors will be required to keep a record of every purchase," Kulongoski said. Officials will be on the watch for people making multiple purchases in a short time.
Details of how names and other personal information will be gathered and used won't be worked out until the Oregon Board of Pharmacy meets next week to adopt the new rules.
"But there is nothing here to suggest we're doing anything to violate state or federal law," said Anna Richter Taylor, a Kulongoski spokeswoman.
Kulongoski's Methamphetamine Task Force recommended the emergency rules, which will be in place for 180 days as the governor works with the Legislature to make them permanent.
Methamphetamine fuels 85 percent of the state's property and identity-theft crimes, Kulongoski said. The drug is the leading reason Oregon children are removed from their homes and placed in long-term foster care, the governor said.
For example, Kulongoski told the story of an infant who overdosed on breast milk tainted by the drug. In another case, parents covered a crib with plywood to make sure their baby wouldn't escape while they got high and then slept.
"Clearly, in order to keep children safe, we must stop the meth epidemic in Oregon," he said.
Since Oklahoma passed its law restricting access to pseudoephedrine and ephedrine in April, meth lab seizures have declined nearly 70 percent, said Lonnie Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
But as long as superlabs in Mexico and California continue to operate, Wright said, stopping the meth problem will require much more than securing boxes of cold medicine behind a counter.
"We didn't say it would solve the meth problem," he said. "We're just trying to solve the meth laboratory problem."
Ruth Vandever, who served as the Oregon Board of Pharmacy's executive director from 1983 to 1999, said the emergency rules were the biggest assault the governor could initiate on his own in the meth war.
"I think it will do good," she said. "We wanted this 15 years ago. We tried. But the pharmaceutical companies objected to creating a third class of drug."
Joseph Rose: 503-221-8029; josephrose@news.oregonian.com
******
We've got RICO, the War on Drugs, drug paraphenalia laws going back to the 60s, ... for our safety, and at what price? At the risk of sounding insensitive to the problem of the drug goblins targeting our kids, Law Enforcement has taken a back seat to Crime Prevention in this country. And, yes, I don't mistake one for the other.
Crime prevention is interdiction. Crime prevention by government is prior restraint. Critical thinking is in the pooper these days. Once in a while a story comes out that just stops me in my tracks and makes me shake my head that these people are Americans. I just don't know where we're going anymore. But I do know that I wish I had more time on this planet to fight this kind of crap. The human capacity to absorb abuse is legend. It may take a while for the pendulum to swing back. Then it'll be ugly.
For the tinfoil hat crowd, please don't make this another SHTF thread. If you just have to post, let's talk about civil liberties and let's do it above the grade school level.
Governor's order links cold-pill purchases, ID
The rules, aiming to curtail widespread methamphetamine production in Oregon, will be among the nation's toughest
Saturday, October 02, 2004
JOSEPH ROSE
SALEM -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski issued an order Friday that will require people buying over-the-counter cold medicines such as Sudafed in Oregon to show identification and leave personal information at the register.
The new rules, which go into effect Oct. 13, are designed to slow the state's do-it-yourself methamphetamine problem.
Popular cold remedies contain ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, the main ingredients in the manufacture of the powerfully addictive and cheap street drug.
Meth abuse is particularly widespread in Oregon, which treats more people for meth addiction per capita than any other state in the country.
At a news conference, Kulongoski said methamphetamine has mutated into one of the most devastating public safety epidemics the state has faced, fueling crime, tearing apart families and creating toxic dumpsites in neighborhoods.
"Meth labs exist in Oregon homes, hotels, motels, apartments and even in automobiles," he said. "They're just as likely to be found in rural communities as they are in big cities."
The new guidelines, modeled after an Oklahoma law credited for a dramatic drop in illegal meth labs in that state, will be among the strictest in the nation.
In less than two weeks, medications with ephedrine and pseudoephedrine will become truly over the counter. Purchasers must go to a store's pharmacy counter or front register and show identification.
"Vendors will be required to keep a record of every purchase," Kulongoski said. Officials will be on the watch for people making multiple purchases in a short time.
Details of how names and other personal information will be gathered and used won't be worked out until the Oregon Board of Pharmacy meets next week to adopt the new rules.
"But there is nothing here to suggest we're doing anything to violate state or federal law," said Anna Richter Taylor, a Kulongoski spokeswoman.
Kulongoski's Methamphetamine Task Force recommended the emergency rules, which will be in place for 180 days as the governor works with the Legislature to make them permanent.
Methamphetamine fuels 85 percent of the state's property and identity-theft crimes, Kulongoski said. The drug is the leading reason Oregon children are removed from their homes and placed in long-term foster care, the governor said.
For example, Kulongoski told the story of an infant who overdosed on breast milk tainted by the drug. In another case, parents covered a crib with plywood to make sure their baby wouldn't escape while they got high and then slept.
"Clearly, in order to keep children safe, we must stop the meth epidemic in Oregon," he said.
Since Oklahoma passed its law restricting access to pseudoephedrine and ephedrine in April, meth lab seizures have declined nearly 70 percent, said Lonnie Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
But as long as superlabs in Mexico and California continue to operate, Wright said, stopping the meth problem will require much more than securing boxes of cold medicine behind a counter.
"We didn't say it would solve the meth problem," he said. "We're just trying to solve the meth laboratory problem."
Ruth Vandever, who served as the Oregon Board of Pharmacy's executive director from 1983 to 1999, said the emergency rules were the biggest assault the governor could initiate on his own in the meth war.
"I think it will do good," she said. "We wanted this 15 years ago. We tried. But the pharmaceutical companies objected to creating a third class of drug."
Joseph Rose: 503-221-8029; josephrose@news.oregonian.com
******
We've got RICO, the War on Drugs, drug paraphenalia laws going back to the 60s, ... for our safety, and at what price? At the risk of sounding insensitive to the problem of the drug goblins targeting our kids, Law Enforcement has taken a back seat to Crime Prevention in this country. And, yes, I don't mistake one for the other.
Crime prevention is interdiction. Crime prevention by government is prior restraint. Critical thinking is in the pooper these days. Once in a while a story comes out that just stops me in my tracks and makes me shake my head that these people are Americans. I just don't know where we're going anymore. But I do know that I wish I had more time on this planet to fight this kind of crap. The human capacity to absorb abuse is legend. It may take a while for the pendulum to swing back. Then it'll be ugly.
For the tinfoil hat crowd, please don't make this another SHTF thread. If you just have to post, let's talk about civil liberties and let's do it above the grade school level.
