Pubdate: Thu, 01 Mar 2001
Source: Daily Egyptian (IL)
Copyright: 2001 Daily Egyptian
Contact:  Southern Illinois U. Communications Bldg., Carbondale, IL 62901-6887
Fax: (618) 453-8244
Website: http://www.dailyegyptian.com/
Author: David Osborne

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS U.-AREA MERCHANTS JOIN WAR ON DRUGS

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Two recent arrests of suspected methamphetamine 
manufacturers highlighted some surprising allies in the war on drugs.

Twice in the last month employees at the Carbondale Wal-Mart, 1450 E. Main 
St., alerted police after customers attempted to buy large quantities of 
pseudoephedrine. Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Kmart are among the merchants that 
monitor purchases of the precursors for methamphetamine.

Unusually large purchases of such items as lithium batteries, Coleman fuel 
and certain drain cleaners may also prompt a store clerk to refuse to 
complete a purchase or even notify police. Besides their normal uses, these 
items and others are used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. 
Wal-Mart and Walgreens are both following a national corporate policy, 
while other stores such as Kmart follow a local or regional store policy.

Wal-Mart and Walgreens have prompts programmed into their cash registers to 
flag purchases of those items when they exceed a preset limit. As the 
cashier scans the items, the computer tracks quantities. When the preset 
limit is reached or exceeded, the cash register alerts the cashier. What 
happens next differs between the two chains.

Terry Godwin, manager of the Carbondale Wal-Mart, said the cashier would 
refuse to complete the sale, and store loss prevention officers would be 
notified. Police are also notified, and because the store routinely uses 
security cameras for loss prevention, images of the transaction can be 
supplied to law enforcement.

"All of our cameras are digital, so if we know the time [of the attempted 
purchase] we can find it quickly and show it to police," Godwin said.

Godwin said that if the customer has a legitimate reason for the purchase, 
management can override the electronic block on the purchase. Consumers 
rarely argue the point, though.

"We reserve the right to limit quantities, and it states that on the back 
of our sales flyers," Godwin said.

Carbondale Walgreens' manager Joey Smith said if his store's registers flag 
a purchase, the cashier calls a manager to handle the situation.

"We don't want to put our cashiers in an uncomfortable situation," Smith said.

Smith said the manager would confront the customer and explain the reason 
the purchase was denied.

Walgreens cash registers are programmed by brand names, allowing customers 
to make excessive purchases, sometimes by simply switching to a different 
brand.

"They may get away with it a few times before the system catches on," Smith 
said.

Smith said he has made the suggestion to have all antihistamines across 
board added to the system. That idea is still pending.

Sometimes it still comes down to the human factor. Smith related a recent 
incident where the same individual was coming into the store and buying the 
same item repeatedly, in unusual quantities.

"We noticed the trend, and reported it to the police," Smith said.

Kmart assistant manager Nancy Ellis said her store has a similar policy, 
without all the bells and whistles. Kmart has its cashiers watching for 
anyone who might be buying unusual quantities of items that could used in 
the manufacture of methamphetamine. The cashiers would refuse the purchase 
and report the incident to store loss prevention personnel.

"It's not a corporate policy," Ellis said. "Stores in the region have set 
their own policy."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom