West Hollywood council member asks for piece of CVS meth settlement

Mayor Pro Tem John Duran today
called on the US Government to
share part of the $75 million fine
CVS paid to escape criminal
penalties for supllying meth labs.

    West Hollywood council member John Duran today called on the US Justice Department to share the $75 million settlement CVS Pharmacies paid to escape criminal penalties for supplying meth labs with cities such as WeHo.    

   Council member Duran is a recognized leader in meth education and prevention, having sponsored conferences and town halls on the subject, not to mention funneling monies to treatment and prevention agencies.
He dreams of one day building a meth treatment center in West Hollywood.
His call for funding for those ventures comes in the wake of yesterday’s announcement by the United States Attorney’s Office that CVS Pharmacy, Inc., the biggest operator of retail pharmacies in the United States, admitted a criminal role in supplying the ingredients used to make methamphetamines to criminals running meth labs.

   Such was Mr. Duran’s incredulity at the prospect of CVS Pharmacies being involved in the drug trade he thought it, at first, a joke.

CVS has agreed to pay $75 million
in civil penalties and to forfeit the
$2.6 million in profits the company
earned as a result of unlawfully
selling pseudoephedrine to criminals
who made methamphetamine.

   Yet, he said, when it dawned on him that CVS had admitted supplying large amounts of pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine traffickers out of their Southern California stores, including West Hollywood’s, he determined the city should ask for some of the settlement to mitigate the harm done.
  "First of all, it’s unbelievable,” that CVS would shirk its civic responsibility to prevent meth manufacture.
   Secondly, he said, “It is important that West Hollywood investigate whether we can access a portion of that settlement for our meth treatment programs."

   According to the Justice Department, however, fines go directly to the US Treasury, although in the past settlement agreements have been written to mitigate community harm. 

   West Hollywood has taken a lead in meth education and enforcement after witnessing an upswing in the drug’s use, especially among gay men.

   As part of the deal reached late yesterday, CVS admitted that it unlawfully sold pseudoephedrine to criminals who made methamphetamine. CVS has agreed to pay $75 million in civil penalties and to forfeit the $2.6 million in profits the company earned as a result of the illegal conduct.


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