Created: 2/5/2010 8:02:38 PM 
Lexington, NC -- Four years ago, no one thought they would have to show their driver's license just to buy cold and allergy medicine, All in the name of slowing down the manufacture of illegal drugs. But, now a quicker way to make meth has people questioning whether soda is the next controlled substance.
2 Wants to Know looks at how "shake and bake" is causing a stir.
We've all gotten used to being asked for our license to buy pseudoephedrine. What if the pharmacist asked to see your driver's license to buy 2-litre bottles of soda.
A new method for making meth is spreading fast, and can be done with just a shake of a bottle. It's called the one-pot method or shake and bake and it's very easy. The pressure and heat from the chemicals react and shaking the bottle cook the meth.
So we have to ask, with the simpler way to manufacture the drug, would pharmacies have to dispense soda?
"If this would happen, it would be a major catastrophe for pharmacies in general, law enforcement and the like. It would be a big headache in my opinion," says Steven Koontz, a pharmacist with Center Street Pharmacy.
In 2006 when the state put pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in meth, behind the counter, Koontz admits it help cut down on meth making.
"It has been a big benefit to us to get it locked up, sort of an inconvenience for people who need it legitimately, but overall it's been a good method to control the overall distribution of the drug."
In North Carolina, meth labs dropped from a high of 328 to a low of 157. But now, meth labs are on the rise again up in the past two years to 206.
"Very dangerous drug. It makes people violent and paranoid. And you can make these meth labs, have these meth labs almost anywhere, in a hotel room in a home, even in the back of a car," says Attorney General Roy Cooper.
If you don't think it affects you, think again. Because the chemicals are so volatile, the shake and bake has lead to explosions and fires. It also produces toxic sludge which is a hazard to everyone around it. Would this lead the state to make bottles go the way of cold medicines?
"The equipment and other chemicals can be switched around and substituted and there are different ways to go about making it, the pseudoephedrine is the common denominator, says Cooper.
Even though Koontz doesn't see future soda regulation, he does foresee tighter restrictions which could end up costing all of us more.
"There may be some federally regulation where the drug itself may become prescription only and that would really hurt the people who really need it for cold and allergies and et cetera like that," says Koontz.
Instead of regulating soda bottles, the Attorney General wants to take an additional step to slow down meth making. He wants to link up all the pharmacy computers in the state to stop what is known as "smurfing." Right now drug users can go from pharmacy to pharmacy buying their 2 box limit at each store. Linking the pharmacy computers would track all their purchases and keep them from doing that.
WFMY News 2
