Originally published August 6 2005
Bill to restrict cold medicines progresses
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Senate is in the process of approving a new bill that would limit access to popular cold medicines.
The Senate judiciary committee on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would limit access to common cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, an ingredient that can be used to make the highly addictive drug methamphetamine.
The committee sent the "Combat Meth Bill" to the full Senate.
A similar bill in the House of Representatives has been referred to a subcommittee for consideration.
In testimony to Congress earlier this week, Bush administration officials and law enforcement officers from around the country said methamphetamine addiction, once confined to western and mainly rural regions of the United States, has spread to the entire nation and now also is affecting urban and suburban areas.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales recently said methamphetamine had surpassed marijuana as the greatest danger to the nation's children.
The legislation, sponsored by California Democrat Sen.
Diane Feinstein would move cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, such as Sudafed, NyQuil, and Tylenol Cold, behind pharmacy counters and limit how much one person can buy to 7.5 grams a month.
It is modeled after an Oklahoma law, also copied by at least a dozen other states, that has resulted in a large drop in meth labs seized by authorities.
"Today is a good day in the fight against methamphetamines.
Feinstein said the legislation would encourage the manufacture of cold medicines without pseudoephedrine.
Much of the meth sold in the United States is manufactured in "superlabs" in California and Mexico.
However, a significant amount is made in small labs in peoples' bathtubs, or in abandoned buildings or even in hotel rooms.
According to a survey of law enforcement organizations conducted by the National Association of Counties and released this month, 58 percent of county law enforcement agencies now see meth as their largest drug problem.
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