Anti-meth measure dies

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Republicans banded together Tuesday to kill an anti-meth bill that would have required stores selling products containing pseudoephedrine to give authorities quarterly reports of their inventories.

Democrat-backed Assembly Bill 150 was supported on a 27-14 vote, but the proposal needed at least 28 votes to pass because it contained a clause requiring convenience stores to pay a $200 fee if they wanted to sell products containing pseudoephedrine.

Under the state constitution, all fee or tax increases need to secure at least a two-thirds majority vote, or 28 votes.

"This was the most comprehensive meth bill this session, and unfortunately it had to die," said Tom Clark, a lobbyist for the Meth Community Response Alliance. "I am most disappointed that it became a partisan issue."

Pseudoephedrine is an ingredient used to manufacture methamphetamine. Cold and allergy medications Sudafed and Claritin D contain pseudoephedrine.

A study found Nevada ranked No. 1 nationally in the per capita use of methamphetamine, with 2 percent of its population having used meth at least once.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has made combating meth one of the priorities of his administration. He has requested $17 million for anti-meth law enforcement and treatment programs.

A spokesman for the governor said Tuesday that AB150 was not part of Gibbons' program.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said police wanted stores to report their inventories of products containing pseudoephedrine. Then police could watch where unusual quantities of the drugs had been sold or were missing.

Leslie and Assemblyman David Bobzien, D-Reno, expressed concern that meth manufacturers are working with workers in convenience stores to buy or steal products they need to manufacture their drug.

"The inventory goes out the back door," Leslie said. "That is not happening at pharmacies but at convenience store. It is the guy at the counter in the convenience store who opens the back door. He is earning minimum wages."

The bill was the second killed by Assembly Republicans this session. The first was a proposal designed to regulate tanning salons. Democrats hold a 27-15 advantage over Republicans in the Assembly.

Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, did not vote on AB150. He owns a convenience store, and he said that voting on the bill would have been a conflict for him.

Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey, R-Las Vegas, said that Republicans might take a public relations hit for their opposition but that they did the right thing.

The requirement that stores that selling pseudoephedrine products report quarterly to the Department of Public Safety on their inventories and sales of such drugs could have been onerous for some stores, Mabey said.

"The (Democrats) knew how we felt," he said. "If they fixed it, most of us would have supported the bill."

Leslie said stores simply could have reported their inventories by e-mail.

But Mabey questioned whether the reporting requirement would have made any difference.

"Someone dishonest could cook the books," Mabey said.

Before the final vote, Democrats killed an amendment sought by Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, R-Las Vegas, that would have removed the quarterly reporting requirement and would have required stores to contact police when an unusual or unexpected loss of pseudoephedrine-based products occurred.