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By Steven Allen Adams | West Virginia Watchdog

CHARLESTON — Two lawmakers who support requiring prescriptions for cold medicines containing ingredients used in the making methamphetamine say the bill will put the hurt on local meth labs, but can’t guarantee that demand for the powerful narcotic will decease.

Last week, lawmakers introduced SB 346, called the Larry Border Act. If passed, the Larry Border Act would require a prescription to dispense drug products that contain ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, phenylpropanolamine or other ingredients used in the making of methamphetamine – a powerful narcotic also know as as speed, meth, chalk, ice, crystal, and glass.

The bill is named after Del. Larry Border (R-Wood), who died after suffering a stroke last June at the age of 60. Border, a pharmacist, served 10 terms in the House, representing Wood and Wirt counties. He was minority chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee.

The bill is similar to HB 2946, which passed the House last year, but was defeated in the Senate 16-16 with two absent or not voting. Currently, pseudoephedrine products are placed behind the counter in pharmacies, and pharmacists must register pseudoephedrine purchases in a logbook. Still, experts say methamphetamine manufacturing increased over 50 percent in West Virginia over the last year.

“The main thrust are the meth labs and the costs, the toxicity issues, the fires, the children who are abused and neglected,” said state Sen. Dan Foster (D-Kanawha), a doctor and physician administrator at the Charleston Area Medical Center. “That’s huge if we can reduce that significantly. As a bonus, it does seem to cut down on overall meth use.”

Foster points to the success of Oregon, which requires prescriptions for pseudoephedrine products. Since implementing the legislation in 2006, Oregon has seen the number of meth labs reduced by 90-95 percent. Meth arrests, meth rehabilitation initiatives, ER visits for meth, have gone down between 30 percent and 35 percent in Oregon. Mississippi also passed prescription-only legislation in 2010. Since passage, meth lab busts in Mississippi decreased from 252 busts in the first half of 2010 to 62 busts in the last half.

But meth addicts and meth makers are finding ways to get more product. Instead of large labs, many are turning to the shake-and-bake method. This dangerous method involves mixing dangerous chemicals in a 2-liter soda bottle and shaking. It requires far less pseudoephedrine and can produce methamphetamine in minutes. The Drug Enforcement Administration reports that 80 percent of meth lab busts involve the shake-and-bake method. And Mexico has become a major supplier of meth in the U.S., though the Mexican version is usually less potent.

“You don’t eliminate it, but it does have an effect,” Foster said. “It’s not a silver bullet.”

“It’s hard to anticipate that there would be a reduction in the utilization of methamphetamine,” said Del. Don Perdue (D-Wayne), chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee and a pharmacist. “Albeit, the fact remains that hopefully if the sources are cut off you would somewhat see that happen. We can’t point to that because that requires a different kind of effort.”

As part of his State of the State speech, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin introduced legislation creating a real-time electronic tracking program for drugs sold at pharmacies. The initiative came out of a report released earlier this month by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Substance Abuse. That report also called for more funding of the state’s substance abuse treatment programs, though Tomblin included no added funding in his fiscal year 2013 budget.

“We have to put some money in prevention, intervention – which is law enforcement, treatment, and recovery,” Perdue said. “All those four things have to be dealt with and be used to deal with any addict, including methamphetamine.”

Perdue said the state’s substance abuse programs must receive more funding, which is something the Legislature could make happen as they look through the budget.

“We’re going to continue to try to find money for that,” Perdue said. “We can’t stem that tide unless we can do something. If we don’t do something serious there, then I don’t know we can have any hope of interdicting or changing the landscape.”