| Oregon update |
State meth lab seizures cut in half
BY BRAD CAIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALEM — Citing a reduction in
meth lab seizures, Gov. Ted Kulon
goski urged the state Board of Phar
macy to approve permanent rules to
keep certain cold medicines away
from methamphetamine cooks.
At Kulongoski’s request, the board
passed temporary rules last October
to tighten consumer access to cold
pills that can be used to make meth.
Appearing before the board Mon
day, Kulongoski said the rules appear
to have brought about a 50 percent
reduction in the number of small
meth labs around Oregon.
He cited Oregon State Police fig
ures showing that the number of
meth lab busts has declined from an
average of 40 a month prior to adop
tion of the rule to about 20 a month
since then.
That mirrors a reduction in meth
lab seizures reported by police in Ok
lahoma, the first state to adopt the re
striction on cold medicine sales, Ku
longoski noted.
“It means our neighborhoods have
less toxic waste littering our streets
and streams,” he said. “And most im
portantly, it means we have fewer
children being exposed to the pro
duction of this poisonous drug.”
Under the temporary rules adopt
ed in October, consumers must show
picture identification to purchase
cold medications containing pseu
doephedrine, a key ingredient for
cooking methamphetamine.
Kulongoski on Monday urged the
board to adopt permanent rules to re
quire pharmacists to collect the iden
tities of those who purchase solid
forms of pseudoephedrine and enter
the information into an electronic
database. The board is scheduled to
vote on the change today.
Keeping a log of customers who
purchase the cold medications will
help law enforcement agencies “iden
tify suspicious behavior, such as pur
chasing pseudoephedrine products in
amounts that far exceed the need of
a citizen with a common cold or al
lergies,” Kulongoski said.
However, a representative of chain
drug stores expressed doubt about
that proposed requirement, saying
it’s not clear how that information
will be used to fight meth.
The proposed requirement con
tains no provision for the information
on those customer logs to be checked
by law enforcement authorities or
shared by the various stores.
“So basically, it’s an unfunded
mandate on the stores and compa
nies to do nothing but keep a lot of
paperwork that never gets looked at,”
said Lis Houchen of the National As
sociation of Chain Drug Stores.
Kulongoski said he realizes the re
quirement will create additional ex
pense and work for the stores.
“This epidemic is so serious that
everybody has to participate in find
ing a solution to it,” he said. “All I’m
asking the industry to do is to step up
and do their part.”
The permanent rule that’s being
considered by the board also will
require that all solid forms of
pseudoephedrine be moved behind
the counter and sold by pharma
cists. Liquid forms of pseu
doephedrine remain unrestricted
because criminals can’t use those
products to produce meth, police
officials said.
Kulongoski said the rule strikes a
proper balance between keeping cold
and allergy medications available for
legitimate use versus imposing some
restrictions on them to keep them out
of the hands of meth cooks.
Treating more
for meth abuse
Treatment admissions for
people using meth soared
in the 1990s.
Methamphetamine/
amphetamine admissions
per 100,000 population
ages 12 and older
60
SOURCE: Substance Abuse and AP
Mental Health Services Administration
PATRIOT Act utilized in Mayfield search
BY RUKMINICALL1MACHI
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND — Since last May,
when the FBI admitted it had wrong
ly arrested Portland lawyer Brandon
Mayfield following the Madrid train
bombings, the Muslim convert has
contended that the PATRIOT Act was
used to gain secret entry into his
home and gather personal material
that was used to portray him as a
Muslim militant.
The Justice Department has previ
ously denied using the PATRIOT Act in
the Mayfield case — until now.
In a congressional hearing Tliesday
in Washington, D.C., Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales acknowledged that
provisions of the act were used in the
investigation against Mayfield; al
though he first denied it, he corrected
himself when asked a second time an
hour later.
“Senator, I think we have said pub
licly — if not, I guess I’m saying it pub
licly — that the PATRIOT Act was not
used in connection with the Brandon
Mayfield case,” Gonzales told Sen. Di
anne Feinstein, D-Calif., at a Senate Ju
diciary Committee hearing on sections
of the law that are set to expire at the
end of the year.
More than an hour later, after
Feinstein asked another question,
Gonzales said he needed to correct
his earlier answer.
“You asked me specifically about
the Mayfield case, and I’m advised
that there were certain provisions of
the PATRIOT Act that apparently
were used,” he said.
He named two sections of the code
that he said were used: one deals with
extending the duration of electronic
surveillance and another makes it easi
er to get warrants to search the private
residences of U.S. citizens.
Mayfield was arrested May 6 at his
Portland law office after an FBI com
puter matched his fingerprint to one
found on a bag of detonators near the
scene of the Madrid train bombings
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that killed 191 people. He was freed
two weeks later after the FBI admitted
the fingerprints were not his.
Mayfield’s attorneys and some le
gal experts believe the Justice De
partment has been reluctant to ad
mit to using the PATRIOT Act in the
Mayfield case out of worry it would
taint the 2001 law as its provisions
come up for reauthorization.
“This administration is more con
cerned with public relations than an
honest scrutiny of the PATRIOT Act, a
law which is the most dangerous at
tack on civil liberties since the Mc
Carthy era,” said Elden Rosenthal, one
of Mayfield’s lawyers.
Law professor Michael Greenberg
er, a counterterrorism expert and for
mer Justice Department official, also
thinks the U.S. government has been
nervous about acknowledging a con
nection between the Mayfield case
and the PATRIOT Act.
Greenberger said the Justice Depart
ment wants to “make this appear like a
routine search consistent with a law
that is not controversial,” a reference
to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Sur
veillance Act.
The Justice Department insists it is
being up front with Congress about
use of the PATRIOT Act.
Tasia Scolinos, spokeswoman for
the department, said that on Tuesday
Gonzales told the congressional com
mittee hearing that the Bush adminis
tration has used the PATRIOT Act’s
powers to listen to cell phone conver
sations and examine business records
84 times in 3 1/2 years.
“The Attorney General was
forthcoming in his testimony on the
Hill about the Patriot Act where he re
leased new numbers about how this
important anti-terror tool is being used
and highlighted the civil liberties safe
guards contained in the Act,” Scolinos
said in an e-mail to The Associated
Press in Portland.
A Delta
i
The Dave
Holland Bi
Sunday, April 10th - The Shed
there’s still a space
for you in these
great classes !
Paint & paper
Acrylic Painting
Tues, Apr 12-May 17 6:30p-9:30p
$63 w/pass $68 w/out pass
Matt Cutting
Sat, May 14 & 21 io:3op-i2:3op
$22 + pass purchase required
Woodwork
Finishing Wood
Fri, May 13 & 20 io:3oa-i2:3op
$24 + pass purchase required
Chip Carved Box
Wed, Apr 20-May 11 6:3op-q:3op
$34 + pass purchase required
Ceramics
Intro to Raku Firing
Sat, Apr i6,io:3oa-i:3op
Sat, May 7,ii:ooa-6:oop (Firing) $39
+ pass purchase required
Scenic Ceramic Vases
Sun, Apr 17-24 i2:3op-3:3op
$29 + pass purchase required
Ceramic Tool Making
Sat, Apr 23-30 io:3oa-i2:3op
$28 + pass purchase required
Photography
Beginning Photography
Mon, Apr 11-May 16 6:3op-9:3op
$65 + pass purchase required
Photo Refresher
Wed, Apr 13 & 20 6:3op-9:3op 1
$26 + pass purchase required
Digital Imaging
Sat, Apr 16-May 7 10:30a i:3op I
S40 + pass purchase required
Glass
Stained Glass
Sun, April io-May 15 5:oop-8:oop
$56 + pass purchase required
Introduction to Glass
Fusing & Slumping
Mon, May 9-16 c6:3op-9:3op
$39 + pass purchase required
Glass Marbles
Tues, May 3-17 6:3op-9:3op
$56 + pass purchase required
Beg. Glass Bead Making
A. Tues, Apr 12-26 6:3op-9:3op
$43 pass purchase required
B. Thurs, Apr 14-28 6:3op-9:3op
S45 + pass purchase required
Intro, to Glass Fusing
Mon, May 2 6:3op-9:3op
$23 + pass purchase required
Jewelry
Basic Wire Wrapping
Sat, May 14 io:3oa-i:3op
S22 w/pass $27 w/out pass
Bead Basics
Wed, May 4-23 6:oop-8:oop
S32 w/pass
Stone Setting
Sun, Apr 10-24
$41 + pass purchase required
Fibers
S37 w/out pass I
x:oop-4:oop
Recycled Sweater Bags
Sun, April 17 i2:3op-3:3op
$63 w/pass $68 w/out pass
Silk Painting
Sun, Apr 17-May 13 i:oop-4:oop
$49 + pass purchase required