Common Decongestant - now to require Prescription - USA TODAY story

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-11-14-pseudoephedrine-meth_N.htm

It's provided millions of allergy sufferers relief from itchy eyes and runny noses, but pseudoephedrine may become available only by prescription in Kentucky, if some law enforcement and legislators have their way.

The popular over-the-counter decongestant is the key ingredient in the popular, highly addictive and illegal drug methamphetamine.
Some Kentucky law enforcement officials contend that the only way to clamp down on the proliferation of meth labs, which rely on pseudoephedrine, is to include it on the commonwealth's list of "scheduled" drugs and require a prescription to obtain it.
They point to fewer meth labs in other states, including Oregon, as proof that stricter regulation works.
"We have a legal drug that can be created into an illegal drug very easily," said Dr. Praveen Arla, who works in a family practice in Bullitt County. "I'm surprised that it's not scheduled because of that already."
But opponents, including the pharmaceutical industry, argue that making pseudoephedrine a controlled drug will simply make it harder for legitimate users to obtain it, while potentially driving up prescription fraud.
Noting that Kentucky already requires buyers to sign a registry when they buy pseudoephedrine, they contend the state would be better off focusing its efforts on electronic monitoring of sales, cracking down on those who try to buy more than allowed under the law.
During the Kentucky's last generally assembly, two bills that would have limited access to pseudoephedrine, including one making it prescription-only, died during the session. But the issue is expected to come up again in the 2011 session.
Through the end of September, Kentucky authorities discovered 810 meth labs throughout the state, compared with 741 for all of 2009, according to Kentucky State Police statistics.
"If we can reduce our meth labs by 50%, that's what I'm hoping to do," said Sgt. Stan Salyards, with Louisville Metro Police and the president of the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association.
But pharmaceutical industry experts adamantly oppose scheduling, claiming that it will be a burden to 15 million people who use drugs with pseudoephedrine legally. The Consumer Heathcare Products Association says $550 million a year is spent on those products.
"A prescription mandate is really like cutting down the apple tree to get rid of a few bad apples," said Elizabeth Funderburk, a Washington, D.C.-based, spokeswoman for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which lobbies on the issue for pharmaceutical companies.
Currently in Kentucky, drugs containing pseudoephedrine, such as Sudafed, must be kept behind the pharmacy counter. All purchasers must sign a log and are limited to buying 9 grams within 30 days.
Kentucky was the first state to use the electronic monitoring system Meth Check, now called NPLEx, which allows pharmacies to know in real time whether someone attempting to buy pseudoephedrine has already exceeded the limit.
Last year, the system went national and is now paid for by the pharmaceutical industry and provided free to states.
It is being used in four states — Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana and Iowa — and in the process of being set up in six others — Missouri, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Kansas and Washington, said Jim Acquisto of Appriss Inc., the company that runs NPLEx and the creator of the automated notification system.
Several other states have considered legislation to include the system in their law enforcement arsenal, including Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Appriss opposes efforts to make pseudoephedrine a scheduled drug, saying it would eliminate the real-time tracking available through the NPLEx system.
"We're finding a much higher percentage of meth labs through Meth Check," Acquisto said.
Maj. Tony King, a former DEA agent who now works for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, said he believes monitoring is the key to blocking sales and finding those diverting the drug to illegal uses.
And he said not all law enforcement officials are convinced that turning pseudoephedrine into a scheduled drug is the best path to combating meth.
"The whole issue has become such a fire brand," King said. "My biggest fear is that law enforcement is going to inhibit its ability to track the purchases."
Dan Smoot, law-enforcement director for Operation Unite, which provides drug enforcement, education and treatment for 29 counties in Kentucky, knows first hand that Meth Check can help detect meth labs. Operation Unite was the pilot agency for the system before it went statewide.
But Smoot said tracking is not enough, and he supports strengthening the law to pseudoephedrine a scheduled drug.