While the Drug Enforcement Administration was proposing laws to restrict pseudoephedrine in the 1990s, some saw the anti-methamphetamine measures as potentially harmful to legitimate businesses and consumers seeking over-the-counter medications.

At the time, pharmaceutical companies that made pseudoephedrine-based cold and allergy medications for tens of millions of Americans lobbied against restrictions originally proposed by the DEA. The revised laws restricted the amount of pseudoephedrine that can be sold and how it was packaged, but had mixed results in the fight against methamphetamine.

Gene Haislip, a DEA agent, now retired, who proposed several laws, said the Non-Prescription Drug Manufacturers Association was among the most active lobbyists trying to reshape his proposals.

Now called the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the lobbyist organization is on record as supporting the most recent legislation, the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, which went into effect September 2006 and restricts the amount of pseudoephedrine that can be purchased to nine grams a month, a restriction greater than any ever sought by Haislip.

On its Web site, www.chpa-info.org, the organization states why it believes pseudoephedrine should continue to be available for drug companies.

"These medicines serve an important health care need by bringing much needed relief to consumers conveniently and affordably," the site reads. "Each year, an estimated one billion Americans suffer from colds, according to the latest data from the National Institutes of Health. This translates into 38 million missed school days and more than 29 million lost workdays each year. Further, a recent study by Northwestern University found that the use of over-the-counter medications to relieve symptoms of upper respiratory infections can save the U.S. health care system and economy almost $5 billion."

The company also gives its position on the illegitimate use of pseudoephedrine.

"Unfortunately, there are illegitimate producers making products using these ingredients," it states. "These illegitimate producers are not members of CHPA and often sell their products at nontraditional outlets. They sell their products in large quantities -- far larger than could be reasonably used by the average consumer -- and most likely are not packaged in federally mandated blister packs. CHPA does not support the sale of these products and proposes stiff penalties for their manufacture."

CHPA also states that the majority of methamphetamine used in the United States is either imported or made in large labs that use bulk pseudoephedrine, not pills made for legitimate use. The association endorsed a multifaceted approach to fighting meth that includes limiting sales, strong law enforcement and treatment.

The association also has provided funding to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the American Academy of Pediatrics, which have a health education campaign against methamphetamine, and has established its own program called Meth Watch to curtail sales and theft of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products for illegal uses.

Information on the program can be found at www.MethWatch.com.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.