| Press Release |
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| October 11, 2004 |
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Governor's Testimony at Oregon State Board of Pharmacy Hearing
Testimony
GOVERNOR TED KULONGOSKI
Oregon Board of Pharmacy
Monday, October 11, 2004
President Rice, Vice-President Howrey, and the rest of the Board: For the record, my name is Ted Kulongoski and I am the Governor of Oregon.
I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify in support of the adoption of an emergency administrative rule to restrict the sale of products containing Pseudoephedrine and Ephedrine. This first step is important in addressing the Methamphetamine problem plaguing our state.
I have laid out six principles for Oregon’s future – two of which are ensuring the safety of our citizens and ensuring that our children have the food, shelter and quality of life they deserve. Ending meth use and production in Oregon is critical to meeting these priorities.
Law enforcement has discovered more than 500 meth labs in Oregon this year alone. Meth use is a factor in over the vast majority of property and identity theft crimes, and is a major contributor to violent crimes. It also has a particularly devastating impact on children.
Meth is the single biggest factor that leads children in Oregon to be removed from their homes and placed in long-term foster care. Over the past 2 years, nearly 100% of the cases in which the Oregon Department of Justice terminated parental rights involved meth use.
Children who live in meth labs are exposed to toxic chemicals daily and are defenseless against abusive and neglectful parents as they live from one high to the next.
We simply cannot allow this to continue when we know there are options for us to take now to help stop the meth epidemic in Oregon, and protect the children and citizens of our state.
As you know, on Friday, October 1, 2004 I announced that I was asking you, the Board of Pharmacy, to enact an emergency administrative rule restricting the sale of products containing Pseudoephedrine and Ephedrine. I want to thank you for responding to my request with the attention and urgency that this issue demands from us.
It is my expectation that you will enact this emergency administrative rule during your meeting on Wednesday, October 13, and today I ask that this rule contain the following two crucial elements:
- First, the Board needs to determine which products are to be restricted under the emergency rule. Under the rule, the Board should develop a list of Restricted Products.
- The Restricted Products to be covered by the rule should be those Ephedrine or Pseudoephedrine products that are determined by the Board to present a particularly significant public health threat. The Board should seek input from law enforcement in compiling the list of Restricted Products.
At a minimum, all cold remedies and other products where the active ingredient is 100% Ephedrine or Pseudoephedrine must be included in the list of Restricted Products. These are the products most often used by meth cooks. In addition, the rule should require that the Board re-examine the list of Restricted Products at least quarterly. Products should be added to or removed from the list based on data from law enforcement. Also, a product should be removed from the list upon application by a manufacturer if the Board determines that the product is formulated in a way that prevents its conversion into meth.
It is important that the Board have the flexibility to add or remove products from the list so that we can respond to any data that shows that meth cooks are using new or different products for the manufacture of meth.
- Second, the rule needs to set out appropriate restrictions on the sale and storage of these products.
Under the rule, as of 30 days after the adoption of the temporary rule, all retailers should be required to secure these Restricted Products in a locked place, accessible only to an employee of the retailer. I am not asking for a requirement that these products be stored only behind a pharmacy counter. Rather, at this time, I am only asking that the products be secured behind a counter.
Customers must be required to seek employee assistance to obtain these products and retailers must be required to examine a valid, government-issued ID before selling these products. If a customer fails to provide valid, government-issued ID, or if the retailer believes that the customer is using these products for illegal purposes, the retailer should not sell these products to the customer.
In addition to enacting this emergency administrative rule on Wednesday, I am also requesting that you – the Board of Pharmacy – immediately begin work on a permanent rule to go into effect by the time the temporary rule expires in 180 days. I encourage law enforcement, retailers and industry to join in the permanent rulemaking process.
I am not backing down on my original charge that vendors be required to keep a record of every purchase. This is an important deterrent to meth cooks and a necessary tool for law enforcement in the battle against Oregon’s meth epidemic.
Accordingly, in addition to the restrictions contained in the temporary emergency rule, I expect that the permanent rule will include a requirement that retailers maintain a record of the sale of the Restricted Products listed by the Board of Pharmacy. Between now and when the permanent rule is enacted, I expect law enforcement to develop an appropriate process for compiling and tracking this information.
I understand that some retailers and trade associations have raised concerns that these restrictions will be an inconvenience. However, I feel strongly that any potential inconvenience to retailers or consumers is far outweighed by our responsibility to stop meth’s devastating effect on Oregon’s children, families and communities.
We know that restricting access to Pseudoephedrine is a deterrent to meth cooks. We know that similar rules have resulted in dramatic reductions in meth labs in Oklahoma. If we fail to act on what we know is a critical and tangible opportunity to keep meth labs out of our state, we will be failing ourselves as civic leaders and as Oregonians. This is the unequivocally the right thing to do – and we will do it.
I am very pleased that Attorney General Hardy Myers has joined us today. The Attorney General shares my concerns about the meth epidemic in Oregon and I thank him for his support on this issue.
I have also invited several experts to be here today to talk further about the meth epidemic in Oregon and what we must do to stop it, including Brian Surber, Deputy General Council of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Salem Police Chief Walt Myers, the chair of my Meth Taskforce. I hope you will listen carefully to their testimony.
We know that this is only one step in a much larger battle against meth. In the coming months, I will be working with legislators and providers to develop other key initiatives to address prevention and treatment of meth use. And I will continue to enlist the help of citizens in communities all across Oregon to make it clear that we absolutely will not tolerate meth in our state.
I want to thank all of the members of the Board of Pharmacy in advance for taking action to stop the meth epidemic in Oregon. This is a brave and aggressive step that will make our communities safe for years to come.
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