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| House of Representatives > Campbell > Meth bill signing
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Gov. Christine Gregoire signs into law House Bill 2266,
the anti-meth bill, as legislators and law enforcement officials look on |
Rep. Tom Campbell
(R-2nd District)
333 John L. O'Brien Bldg.
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7912 |
Rep. Dawn Morrell
(D-25th District)
342 John L. O'Brien Bldg.
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7968 |
Rep. Tami Green
(D-28th District)
327 John L. O'Brien Bldg.
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7958 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 11, 2005
Governor signs major anti-meth bill for Washington
OLYMPIA -- Washington has a strong new law to keep the over-the-counter drugs that go into the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine from those who cook meth. The legislation was signed into law today by Gov. Christine Gregoire.
House Bill 2266 was introduced in the Legislature by Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Roy). This year, the bill passed both the House and Senate to make Washington a leader in the nation to control the illegal manufacture and distribution of meth.
Campbell, along with Reps. Dawn Morrell (D-Puyallup) and Tami Green (D-Lakewood) led the fight in the House for strong legislation to control the manufacture of the highly-addictive drug. Pierce County has the dubious distinction of being the 'epicenter' of meth manufacture in Washington.
Gov. Gregoire signed the bill with about 60 people cheering her on in the governor's conference room. Law enforcement officials, legislators, community activists and a group of teenage youth who had experience with the horrific drug cheered the governor's action.
"Washington is going to be one of the toughest states in the nation to eradicate this drug," Gregoire told the assembled crowd as she signed her name to the bill.
House Speaker Frank Chopp attended today's bill signing. Campbell credited Chopp with putting his support behind the bill from the beginning. "He really supported this effort and worked very hard with us to get the bill passed into law," Campbell said. "I was especially pleased that he was there for the bill signing."
The main ingredients in meth include ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine which are found in grocery stores, convenience stores and drug stores in cold/allergy medications such as Sudafed. Meth cooks buy the products in great volume to extract the drugs they need to manufacture methamphetamine.
When this law takes effect, retailers will place those cold/allergy medications that contain the three meth ingredients behind the counter so a clerk will be required to dispense the product. It will require an ID to show the purchaser is at least 18 years old and the purchaser will have to sign a log so, if necessary, law enforcement can track those who buy excessive amounts of the products. The law also limits customers to two packages of the products.
Under the new law, these products must be in a location inaccessible to the public by Oct 1, 2005. The log provision goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2006. In a show of good-faith, however, Target, Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer stores have voluntarily made the change in their policy to comply with state law immediately.
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