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Regola Introduces Anti-Meth Bill
Measure Would Control Sales
of Convertible Chemicals
HARRISBURG -- Calling
methamphetamine production and sales "a growing scourge of communities," Senator
Bob Regola recently introduced legislation aimed at controlling the sales of
medications that can be converted into the illegal substance.
"Methamphetamine production
has moved from outlaw biker gangs and into our communities mainly because the
key chemicals are readily available in the marketplace," Senator Regola said.
"This scourge is reaching into all of our communities and destroying lives."
Senate Bill 923 would add
cold and sinus medications containing detectable quantities of ephedrine,
pseudoephedrine and/or phenylpropanolamine to Pennsylvania's list of controlled
substances, meaning those medications would be moved off store shelves and
behind pharmacy counters. The legislation will not affect the sale of
medications that have been formulated in a way to effectively prevent their
conversion into methamphetamine.
"Meth is a dangerous and
highly addictive stimulant," Senator Regola said. "These controls are needed
and they are needed now. There is documented evidence that meth manufacturing
and use is present and growing in western Pennsylvania and is expected to spread
eastward."
According to the Pennsylvania
Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), methamphetamine is the primary
illegal drug being manufactured in Pennsylvania with production and abuse
increasing particularly in the rural northwestern portion of the Commonwealth --
which is becoming known to local officials as the "meth capital of
Pennsylvania."
In addition to the
over-the-counter medications, a number of volatile chemicals are also used in
the production of methamphetamine, which poses significant dangers for those in
or living around a meth "lab," Senator Regola said.
"It's clear that meth
production is a dangerous process. We've seen and heard the horror stories that
come up when a meth lab blows up," Senator Regola said. "It's not unlike having
a bomb- making facility in your neighborhood. That's an unacceptable hazard to
citizens and to emergency responders who are called out when a lab explodes."
According to the PCCD, there
were eight meth lab seizures in Pennsylvania by federal or state authorities in
the year 2000. That total jumped to 128 last year. There have been more than
80 such seizures already this year.
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