Following nationwide efforts to curb the manufacture and abuse of methamphetamine, Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen has led the effort to pass legislation controlling the sale of cold medicines used to manufacture the drug.
As of 10:30 Thursday morning products containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine will only be available at drugstores. And in 30 days, those drugstores will be required to ask for identification when selling the drug, maintain a log and limit the purchase of any medication containing ephedrine.
Crystal methamphetamine, also known by the street names meth, crystal, crank and glass, is manufactured from cold and sinus medicines and other readily available ingredients like lye, found in drain cleaner, and red phosphorus used on match strikers.
Thursday, there were empty shelves at Rite-Aid at the corner of Poplar and Highland where Sudafed and Actifed once sat as an easy target for shoplifters and meth manufacturers.
"We had already removed most of it prior to the law going into effect today," said Barry Gaines, a certified pharmacy technician at Rite-Aid. "So many people were coming in here and stealing it."
Gaines said groups of four or five people would come into the store to buy up as many ephedrine-rich pills as they could. Then they try to get more in the pharmacy's drive-thru window.
"We used to limit people to purchasing six packages," Gaines said. "Then we lowered it to two."
Gaines was never surprised when people came in looking for Sudafed, Benadryl or Contac.
"Half of the people coming in looking for it, you could tell what they were using it for," he said. "They had spots on their faces and needle marks on their arms."
Gaines said he supports the law because crystal meth causes big problems for drugstores.
At convenience stores on and around The U of M campus, drugs containing ephedrine were still available on some aisles and behind the counter at others.
A $1.99 package of generic sinus medicine containing pseudoephedrine was for sale on an aisle in one off-campus store and various ephedrine pills were on sale in front of the cash register.
The law which went into effect Thursday will limit the amount of ephedrine-containing medicine one customer can purchase, and health care workers will be required to report burns and injuries related to meth lab explosions.
Though the methamphetamine problem in Shelby County pales in comparison to problems in more isolated areas in Tennessee, law enforcement here applaud the governor's efforts.
"The manufacture and use of crystal methamphetamine in the state of Tennessee has reached epidemic proportions," said Steve Shular, public information officer for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department. "It's a big problem in eastern Tennessee, but we're seeing more and more reports in Shelby County and nearby counties like Tipton and Lauderdale."
The governor is doing an excellent job raising awareness of this problem in the state and across the country, he said.
In addition the new legislation that moves the medicines behind the counter and monitors their sale, tougher penalties make even the smallest possession of the drug a felony offense.
The manufacture of the drug is one of the most dangerous aspects of the problem.
"Houses where people make methamphetamine become very volatile," Shular said, referring to the explosions associated with the process.The epidemic is affecting innocents as well as abusers and manufacturers.
"Over 700 children were removed from families in Tennessee last year because of methamphetamine," Shular said.
