Pubdate: Wed, 23 Feb 2005
Source: Joplin Globe, The (MO)
Copyright: 2005 The Joplin Globe
Contact:  http://www.joplinglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/859
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

IN OUR VIEW: CRACKING DOWN ON METH LABS

Law enforcement authorities in Missouri and Kansas were able to smile last 
week after the National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System reported a 
significant decline in the number of meth laboratories closed down in 2004. 
But the smile began to fade quickly in Kansas, where the failure to report 
lab seizures in a third of the state's counties has deflated hopes of a 
genuine decrease. Indeed, the Hutchinson News contacted several counties 
that showed no lab busts and discovered numerous uncounted seizures. The 
official report filed by Kansas earlier had shown 583 lab busts. That 
represented a 10 percent drop in labs, dumpsites, materials and equipment 
from the previous year and dropped Kansas out of the top 10 meth states for 
the first time in a decade. That has changed now, of course, although there 
may not be an officially updated total.

Missouri has been No. 1 in the nation for years and not surprisingly 
remained in that position with 2,799 meth seizures. But the good news is 
that the number was down from 2,860 in 2003.

The numbers can be read two ways. Either sheriffs' departments, local 
police and other law enforcement agencies are doing a crackerjack job of 
finding and shutting down meth labs or they are only touching on a 
percentage of them. We tend to believe that law enforcement has stepped up 
its anti-meth efforts. But we also believe there is a long line of meth 
makers ready to take over when one gets busted.

A temporary solution seems to be an Oklahoma-type law that prevents those 
who make methamphetamine from obtaining the key ingredients for their 
dangerous brew. Lawmakers in Missouri and Kansas are pushing legislation 
that would restrict the sale of cold, flu and allergy medications 
containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Consumers would be allowed to buy 
only a specified amount of the medication, would have to provide photo 
identification and would have to sign a registration book. Eventually, 
registration information could be fed into a central database to make 
identification of possible meth manufacturers easier. How well has the 
Oklahoma system worked? Well, meth-lab seizures dropped from 103 a month to 
56 a month in the first year. The problem is that Oklahoma meth 
manufacturers simply scurried across the nearby borders into Kansas and 
Missouri to set up shop or buy their ingredients. In self-defense, Missouri 
and Kansas need a similar law.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager