Pubdate: Tue, 02 Dec 2003
Source: Tennessean, The (TN)
Copyright: 2003 The Tennessean
Contact:  http://www.tennessean.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447
Author: Leon Alligood
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

TBI UNVEILS VOLUNTARY 24/7 'METH WATCH'

Clerks To Call In Suspicious Buys Of Ingredients

Tennessee's store clerks, drugstore cashiers and market workers will
be the eyes and ears of drug enforcement agents as part of a new
effort to stem methamphetamine production in the state.

At the Tennessee Meth-amphetamine Response Conference, which opened
yesterday and continues through tomorrow at the Renaissance Hotel in
Nashville, TBI Acting Director David Jennings unveiled a new voluntary
program called ''Meth Watch.''

Under the program, store employees will soon notice a poster that
lists and shows the products used to make meth, a highly addictive
drug that can be produced in a kitchen using a variety of common
products, such as drain opener, muriatic acid and cold pills. Stores
affected include convenience stores, drugstores, discount retailers
such as Wal-Marts, grocery stores, and the like.

If a store clerk notices someone buying suspicious amounts of such
items, they are asked to report the purchase to a toll-free number,
1-877-TNN-METH (866-6384).

Jennings said the voluntary program is a cooperative venture of the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Sheriffs Association,
the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police and the Tennessee Retail
Association. There is no reward for the clerks if someone is convicted.

The number, to be activated by the end the week, will be staffed 24
hours a day, with information forwarded to drug agents in that county.
An investigation could follow.

''The point is to make it as inconvenient as possible for the people
that make meth. It will not solve all of the problem, but we have to
take some kind of initiative,'' Jennings told the approximately 500
conferees, made up of law enforcement officials, judges, child
protection workers and mental health professionals.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the number of meth
lab confiscations in the state has grown from 235 in fiscal year 2000
to 1,154 in 2003. In a majority of cases, DEA statistics show firearms
are present when authorities conduct raids.

''These are paranoid people. Unfortunately, a deputy in Scott County
paid the ultimate price,'' said Russ Dedrick, assistant U.S. attorney
in Knoxville. Dedrick was referring to Hubert Yancey, 35, who was
killed Friday when he and three other deputies approached a suspected
meth house.

''We are seeing the tip of the iceberg in many ways,'' said Dr.
Sullivan Smith, an emergency services physician at Cookeville Regional
Medical Center, which sees an average of two to three meth users
daily. Sometimes, they are violent.

''We've had some incredible donnybrooks in our emergency room because
of people on meth. It's totally changed my emergency room. It's a
different place than it was a few years ago.''

Susan Steppe of the state Department of Children's Services, said
about 500 children have been removed from meth homes since meth gained
popularity about five years ago.
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