Without doubt, meth addiction is bad news and we need to fight its spread. Unfortunately, Senate Bill 686, the Meth. Lab Prevention Act, is a classic case of good intentions gone awry.
S686 makes a key ingredient in making meth, pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance that can be sold only in limited quantity, an approach that has helped in other states. But it also says only a pharmacist can dispense nonprescription drugs containing that ingredient and requires the purchaser to show a photo ID that gives his birth date.
Limiting purchases of the key ingredient makes sense, but why does a pharmacist have to control access, since there is no purchase registry system in North Carolina linking all pharmacies so that a purchaser can’t go from one to another? Why not require a clerk to limit access as is done for beer and wine and cigarettes? Why inconvenience the public by completely banning the sale of a popular nonprescription drug in convenience stores, grocery stores, and in pharmacies when the store is open but the pharmacist not on duty?
The photo-ID requirement is also flawed. Unfortunately, Sen. Hugh Webster’s attempt to waive the requirement if the pharmacist actually knew the customer was shot down by Senate Democrats. Is a pharmacist really supposed to refuse to sell his preacher allergy medicine without seeing his driver’s license? Besides, there are so many phony licenses available in North Carolina that the photo-ID requirement is almost funny.
If the Easley administration really wants to fight drugs, perhaps administration officials could address the problem they helped create: the flood of illegal immigration that threatens to sink this state in debt and dissension like it did California. They continue to help people break immigration laws while placing more burdens on honest citizens.
North Carolina’s driver’s license law still says that an applicant can use a meaningless taxpayer identification number instead of a Social Security number. It says an applicant with no proof of North Carolina residency can sign an affidavit and the Department of Motor Vehicles must accept that as proof. The attorney general has done nothing about the half-million-plus North Carolina licenses issued to people with no valid Social Security numbers. The federal government is going to require some changes in license laws, but there is no excuse for the way the governor and attorney general have ignored the rising tide of gangs and drugs and helped gang members by making false identifications so readily available.
Illegal immigrants are the main source of meth in North Carolina, not “home brew.” As noted on the Drug Enforcement Administration website (www.dea.gov): “North Carolina has experienced a significant increase in drug trafficking activity, the majority of it due to the influx of Mexican nationals into the state…” With reference to meth, the DEA says that while “Smaller methamphetamine laboratories are a significant threat in the western portion of the state. . .on average they produce only ounce quantities of meth…” According to the DEA, most meth is imported from other states, and, “Ethnic Mexican traffickers from these states have been identified as the clandestine manufacturers and sources of supply for methamphetamine in multi-pound quantities.” Every North Carolina citizen should read that web site carefully. It is scary.
Law-abiding citizens are fed up with being inconvenienced to accommodate those who choose to break the law. The attorney general needs to focus on the larger threat of illegal immigration rather than his drive to inconvenience people with colds and allergies. Limiting purchases of the key ingredient in meth is a good idea, but limiting the ability of illegal aliens to drive on our roads is even more important.
Fern Shubert is a former member of the N.C. Senate.