Pubdate: Sun, 06 Feb 2005
Source: News-Enterprise, The (KY)
Copyright: 2005 News-Enterprise
Contact:  http://www.newsenterpriseonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1663
Author: John Friedlein

BILL TARGETS METH ELEMENT

Kentucky lawmakers will consider a proposal aimed at keeping cold and
allergy medicine out of the hands of methamphetamine cooks.

Meth makers can now anonymously buy large quantities of pseudoephedrine, an
ingredient in Sudafed.

State Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, will sponsor a measure to restrict
the sale of pseudoephedrine tablets. The law would limit sales of the drug
to pharmacies and make shoppers show identification and sign their name.
They would only be able to buy nine grams per month.

The proposal would also make it a crime to have a child near the manufacture
of a controlled substance and have meth makers pay for the cleanup of their
lab.

"Anything that can be done is a plus," said Kentucky State Police Trooper
Steve Pavey, a spokesman for the Elizabethtown post. "It's a true epidemic."

In the past seven years, the number of meth labs in Kentucky has grown
almost 3,000 percent, according to the governor's office.

Hardin County prosecutors worked more than 40 meth-related cases in 2004,
according to the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Unlike Kentucky as a whole, the number of local labs seem to be shrinking,
said Wayne Edwards, director of the Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task
Force. He credited some of that to good enforcement. "We've made quite a few
arrests . over the past few months."

Meth is still prevalent, though. Edwards said the majority of his agency's
cases seem to involve meth. He thinks restricting pseudoephedrine sales
would help.

The first state to do so was Oklahoma, where the number of meth labs
de-creased 45 percent after the law went into effect in 2004.

In addition to Kentucky, legislators in 20 states may restrict
pseudoephedrine sales.

Some local stores, such as Kroger and Target, limit the number of
pseudoephedrine packages that a customer can buy at one time, Edwards said.

However, meth makers skirt those measures by shopping at more than one
store.

"Obviously, this is a big drug problem for our state," said Kroger spokesman
Tim McGurk. "We want to show support for law enforcement, but we hope it can
be done in a way that doesn't inconvenience our shoppers."

Some stores are good about alerting police of suspicious shoppers, but
others do not communicate as well, Edwards said.

Jamie Neal, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, said
employees can voluntarily communicate between stores, but it will not be a
requirement of the proposal.

"It will be up to law enforcement to use sign-in sheets as a tool," she
said. That way they can keep tabs on who is buying the pills in bulk.

Even with the restriction, meth manufacturers will "try to come up with more
creative ways to get around the system," Pavey said.

Meth cooks can set up labs anywhere, from cars and barns to motel rooms,
even deep in the woods. They can stash everything they need to make meth in
a large cardboard box.

Manufacturing the drug is not only a hazard to users, but also to the
community at large, Edwards said.

One threat is from explosions, because many ingredients in methamphetamine
are volatile. Another is the residue, which, if left behind in a motel room,
for example, can cause respiratory problems for the next guests.

Anhydrous ammonia is a particularly explosive ingredient used to make the
drug. The compound recently made headlines when a company that makes it
decided to mix a dye with the chemical so it will turn meth makers' hands
pink, thereby helping officers spot cooks.

State Rep. Mike Weaver, D-Radcliff, said he would support the anti-meth
proposal, in part because the labs are an environmental hazard. He also said
they can hurt children.

State officials, including Gov. Ernie Fletcher, stressed the importance of
taking steps to prevent meth making when the pseudoephedrine bill was
introduced last week.

"We must take action to stop the potentially fatal practices of producing
and using methamphetamine in the commonwealth and to protect our citizens
from the explosive meth labs that could be living right next door to them,"
Fletcher said in a press release. "We have reached out to many people and
groups on this issue, and the consensus is that this is right for Kentucky."

State Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, said a bill to restrict
pseudoephedrine sales will have a "pretty good chance of passing."
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