FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 23, 2005

Legislature passes bill to fight meth epidemic

OLYMPIA -- After a long and winding road, the Legislature today passed a major bill to fight the epidemic of methamphetamine and the explosion of meth labs across Washington.

It wasn't easy to bring all sides together on a radical concept to tighten access to the precursor drugs used in the manufacture of meth. But, the day before the 2005 legislature ended its 105-day session, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Roy), pulled it together to get a bill to his liking passed and signed into law.

The legislation (HB 2266) passed the Senate by a 47 to 0 vote; passed the House by a 91 to 5 vote. Gov. Christine Gregoire assured Rep. Campbell that she will sign the bill into law at the earliest opportunity .

The provisions of the bill, will require retail stores to place those cold and allergy medications that are used to manufacture meth behind the counter, to require a purchaser to show photo identification to prove they're over 18 years old, and will require purchasers to sign a log of their purchase to assist law enforcement track excessive purchases of the ingredients.

Meth is illegally manufactured from cold and allergy medications that contain ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine. Up until now, the medications were sold over-the-counter. When the bill goes into effect, these medications will have to be kept in a behind-the-counter location so they are not accessible to customers or to those who shoplift the product.

"The battle with meth cooks has been that they produce an insidious highly addictive drug that is devastating to the central nervous system," Campbell said. "But not only is meth taking a toll on those who become addicted, but the meth cooks create unimaginable problems for the communities where they are manufactured."

"The toxic cleanup of abandoned labs falls on the county at great expense, not only in the cleanup, but in treating addicts and imprisoning those who get caught," he added.

Campbell said his own Pierce County is the state's epicenter of meth production problems. "Nearly half of the 1,400 lab cleanups in the state occurred in Pierce County," he said.

As sponsor of the measure, Campbell thanked Barbara Dolan and Kelly Mainard, co-founders of the Citizen Action Team in Pierce County, for the grassroot efforts to control meth and to create the bill.

Campbell said he and Rep. Dawn Morrell (D-Puyallup) led the bill through the House and Sens. Adam Kline (D-Seattle)  and Jim Kastama (D-Puyallup) spearheaded it through the Senate. "It was a great effort that we couldn't let up until it was passed," Campbell said. "There was strong resistance from special interests, which the four of us had to overcome. I'm proud of my colleagues and what we accomplished."

"But, in the end, we got nonpartisan support on this bill," Campbell added. "I am proud to say the Pierce County delegation acted to pass this bill because the meth plague is taken very seriously. We know all too well the everyday tragedies caused by meth."

Campbell also acknowledged the strong support he got from both Gov. Gregoire and Attorney General Rob McKenna. McKenna praised the legislation, saying "it is one of the most significant pieces of legislation to be approved this session."

-30-