Pubdate: Wed, 04 May 2005
Source: Times, The (Shreveport, LA)
Copyright: 2005 The Times
Contact:  http://www.shreveporttimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1019
Author: Mike Hasten
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

BILL TARGETS ILLEGAL METHAMPHETAMINE LABS

BATON ROUGE -- The illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine is rampant in 
rural Louisiana, Grant Parish Sheriff L.R. "Pop" Hattaway told a Senate 
committee that approved restricting the sales of Sudafed and other 
over-the-counter drugs used in makeshift labs.

Testifying in favor of Senate Bill 24 by Sen. James David Cain, R-Dry 
Creek, Hattaway said his office has discovered and destroyed 10 active meth 
labs in the past six months in Grant Parish. Another 10 abandoned labs were 
found within the past year.

"If there are that many in that rural area, how many are in our area?" 
asked Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette.

"I've never seen a drug as addictive or destructive as crystal meth," 
Hattaway said. "Once you get on crystal meth, it's a nightmare and living 
hell."

The Senate Judiciary C Committee unanimously approved SB24, which would 
direct merchants who sell cold and allergy drugs containing ephredrine to 
put them behind the counter or install video cameras to keep watch on the 
racks. Either way, no customer could buy more than three packages.

Methamphetamine is made by combining ground-up pills with a number of 
substances.

The toxic combination is "cooked" to a thick solution and then dried, 
broken and crushed.

"Crystal meth is pretty much the drug of choice in Louisiana," Cain told 
the committee. "It happened in our family. It destroys people."

Lt. Col. Mark Oxley of the Louisiana state police said crystal meth labs 
are found mostly in rural areas where it is easier to conceal the activity, 
but state police have found some in abandoned buildings in urban areas.

"And we have even found some mobile labs," Oxley said.

Hal Turner, executive director of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association, said 
the association secured $1.5 million in federal funds to combat the spread 
of methamphetamine use in rural parishes but "we got great difficulty" 
rooting out all the locations where it's being manufactured.

Cain said his bill is patterned after an Oklahoma law that has been 
successful in shutting down meth labs by limiting the primary ingredient.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that drug agents believe Oklahoma may 
come close to wiping out small-time methamphetamine manufacturing by 
tracking sales of cold medicines. Meth lab seizures dropped more than 70 
percent since Oklahoma put pseudoephedrine tablets behind pharmacy counters 
last year.

Gannett Bureau Chief John Hill contributed to this story.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom