DES MOINES - When customers at Jeff Jessen's small grocery store in Grafton come to the cash register toting cans of soup, a big bottle of 7-Up and a box of cold medicine, he doesn't have to ask how they're feeling.

That's business as usual during cold season at the J-Mart on Main Street, the only grocery store in the Worth County town of about 300 people in far northern Iowa. Jessen says many of his customers are older residents who don't like to drive to buy essentials, especially if they're not feeling well.

"There's nothing else here, not even a gas station," Jessen said.

But under a proposal pushed by Gov. Tom Vilsack, Jessen's market would no longer be able to sell many popular cold, flu and sinus remedies to its customers. That's because those products contain pseudoephedrine, a nasal decongestant that's also the prime ingredient sought by criminals trying to cook highly addictive methamphetamine.

Vilsack, backed by law enforcement groups, wants to make pseudoephedrine a Schedule V controlled substance. Only pharmacists would dispense products containing pseudoephedrine, and Iowans would need to show a valid ID and sign a log book to get them.

Backers argue such a law would provide a powerful tool for thwarting homegrown meth makers, whose secret, noxious labs litter the countryside.

"The meth issue is not going away," said Marvin Van Haaften, director of the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy. "Iowans are horrified by it."

But Jessen's store has no pharmacist, and the nearest pharmacy is 12 miles away in St. Ansgar. Although he acknowledges meth is a big problem - he found the remnants of a makeshift lab in his Dumpster several years ago - he opposes Vilsack's plan. Among Iowa retailers, he's not alone.

"Basically, it's a question of what is the government's role in protecting us from ourselves," Jessen said. "This is not the solution."

Worth County Deputy Sheriff Dan Fank sees the issue differently. He works with a regional anti-meth task force that spends much of its time tracking down and cleaning up clandestine labs. He supports Vilsack's plan.

"It's going to make a huge difference actually. We've got to keep taking steps forward," Fank said. "I don't feel that sorry for (retailers) when we're out here having to deal with it."

The debate between retailers who sell rural Iowans milk, bread and medicine, and the law officers sworn to protect them is at the crux of a brewing Statehouse battle. Vilsack's plan could be the central criminal justice issue facing lawmakers when the Legislature convenes in January.

Legislators are moving cautiously.

"I think we want to see the details," said Sen. Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, the top Democratic leader in the evenly split Iowa Senate. "I fully expect we will move some legislation on pseudoephedrine

Like 'flour' for a baker

Van Haaften said secret labs make about 20 percent of the meth used in Iowa. The rest is carried into the state by traffickers, mostly from western and southwestern states.

But he contends local law officers are spending much of their time tracking down and cleaning up Iowa labs, leaving cash-strapped, overworked agencies little time to focus on stopping the interstate meth trade.

State and local officers seized 1,155 meth labs in 2003 and have tracked down 1,075 labs this year. Meth offenders continue to swamp Iowa's prisons while overwhelmed treatment programs try to help hard-core addicts.

Iowa ranks fourth nationally for the number of people undergoing treatment for meth addiction, with 198 people in treatment per-100,000 residents, according to 2002 figures. The national average is 52.

Van Haaften argues cutting off the supply of precursor meth ingredients, including pseudoephedrine, would help turn the tide. And for a meth cooker, he contends pseudoephedrine is like flour for a bread baker: If it can't be acquired, it can't be substituted.

It takes 600 to 700 pseudoephedrine tablets to make a gram of meth, Van Haaften said. Sometimes meth makers jump from store to store buying cold medicine. More often, they steal the pseudoephedrine they need.

It's not unusual for store-keepers to find empty cold medicine boxes stuffed in odd places or piled in a restroom after the tablets are spirited away.

Unlike Jessen, Steve Foster, owner of Schares Food Mart in Jesup, would be relieved to stop selling the products.

"It would probably take a headache out of our lives," said Foster, who supports Vilsack's proposal.

Van Haaften argues theft would be far more difficult under Vilsack's plan. And buying the drug from a pharmacy means giving up the anonymity meth makers want.

Earlier this year, lawmakers placed limits on the sale of products containing pseudoephedrine as a single active ingredient, barring consumers from buying more than two boxes at a time. The bill was seen as a compromise after retailers and drug companies succeeded in shelving the idea of making the drug a controlled substance.

Retailers also voluntarily pledged to monitor the sale of precursor products and report suspicious purchases to law enforcement agencies.

But Van Haaften and others argue the new law fails to cover dozens of multi-active-ingredient pseudoephedrine products that can be used to make meth. Iowa's lab seizures remained steady even after the law took effect.

He wants Iowa to follow the lead of Oklahoma, which made pseudoephedrine a Schedule V controlled substance back in April.

Oklahoma lab counts drop

Oklahoma's Schedule V law took effect April 6 after clearing the Legislature without a dissenting vote. The measure took on emotional weight after three Oklahoma state troopers were killed in meth-related incidents.

Dr. John Duncan, chief agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics, said lab seizures in the state have dropped dramatically this year.

In 2003, according to the bureau, state and local agencies seized 1,233 meth labs, or an average of 103 each month. Since April, lab seizures have dropped to 59 per month, a pace that would put total seizures at around 715 by year's end.

"This is not just some naturally occurring diminishing of meth labs," Duncan said. "This is definitely related to the fact that these cooks can't get Sudafed."

But Duncan concedes Oklahoma's law isn't perfect. Meth makers are still buzzing from store-to-store, although the state is setting up a real-time electronic log to track purchases. And cooks are pouring across the border to Arkansas and other states to buy cold medicine.

That could happen in Iowa as well. States such as Nebraska and South Dakota have no limits on pseudoephedrine purchases. An Illinois law similar to Iowa's current rules will take effect Jan. 1, barring consumers from buying more than two package of cold tablets or three grams of the drug.

Duncan said he doesn't buy the argument that consumers are hurt by tougher limits. Oklahoma's law does not affect liquid pseudoephedrine contained in liquid medicines and gel capsules, which can't be easily turned into meth.

"I've had the sniffles a lot. In fact I've got them right now," Duncan said. "It's not a life-threatening disorder. Wait until the morning."

Iowa lawmakers move cautiously

Sen. Keith Kreiman, D-Bloomfield, and Sen. David Miller, R-Batavia, co-chairs of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said they are open to the governor's proposal. But they are also worried about its implications for rural businesses and consumers.

"I would hope that we could come up with a middle of the road, pragmatic proposal," Miller said.

Retailers are likely to lobby against the measure as they did last year. Pfizer Inc., the drug company that makes Sudafed, also opposes the bill, although the company is unveiling a pseudoephedrine-free product - Sudafed PE - in January.

"Do we agree with everything in (Vilsack's proposal)? No," said Jay Kosminsky, a Pfizer spokesman. "We'd like to be part of the dialogue."

House Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, said he is uncomfortable with the proposal at this point.

"I understand the problem and I certainly understand the intent," Rants said. "I just think we may find there are unintended consequences. I think rural Iowans are going to have to have a say in this."

Todd Dorman can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or todd.dorman@lee.net.