Posted on: Friday, February 25, 2005

Officials back limits on cold-medicine sales

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

The number of "backyard" ice labs in Hawai'i would be dramatically reduced by regulating sales of some common-cold drugs, police and prosecutors said at a legislative hearing.

However, law-abiding citizens could find their access to the relief provided by popular remedies such as Sudafed, Nyquil and Actifed limited if the measure banning some sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products passes the Legislature this year, merchants said.

Considering a bill to limit over-the-counter sales of the drugs that contain pseudoephedrine, a primary ingredient in crystal methamphetamine, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday heard testimony from people on both sides of the issue.

"This bill is designed to deal with the meth lab problem in Hawai'i," city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle told committee members. "You only have to pick up the newspaper today to see that these are an increasing problem."

On Monday, police said the number of ice labs raided in Hawai'i jumped sharply last year.

Carlisle said the small-scale drug labs proliferating in neighborhoods pose a danger to the environment, to adults and children inside, and to police trying to stop the drug production.

Using ingredients available in common-cold remedies, drug-lab operators can produce a two-week supply of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, for less than $100, he said.

Under Senate Bill 829, customers would be limited to two boxes, or 96 pills, and any excessive buying over a 30-day period would be immediately reported to police. Exemptions would be made for gelcaps and other products that cannot be easily reduced to their component parts.

A similar measure passed in Oklahoma dramatically cut down on the ability of small-scale producers to manufacturer the drug, law enforcement officials said.

Jeannine Johnson, a Niu Valley resident, said her neighborhood was terrified for two years by people running such a meth lab out of a nearby home. Gunshots and fights were frequent, and scores of people came to the area day and night looking for drugs, she said.

"No one should have to suffer what my neighbors and I went through," she said. "This law would help."

The measure was strongly opposed by several wholesale and retail business representatives who said it would punish consumers while making only a small dent in the real source of the drug's production, "super labs" outside the state.

Small merchants, charged with keeping track of every cold-medicine sale, might choose instead to stop the sales altogether, said Richard Botti, a lobbyist for the Legislative Information Services of Hawai'i, which represents several dozen retailers.

"In some cases, it might mean that someone won't be able to go any longer to a 7-Eleven in the middle of the night to get a cold medicine," he said. Families who need to legitimately buy a large variety of drugs could also be affected, he said.

Botti and other merchant representatives instead suggested that drug wholesalers be charged with keeping track of sales and reporting abnormal "spikes" in pseudoephedrine sales to local police for possible action.

A decision on the bill was deferred until today.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.