ADDITIVE TO ANHYDROUS WOULD INHIBIT METH MAKERS

A chemical that will prevent methamphetamine makers from using
anhydrous ammonia as a raw material for the drug will be added to the
widely used nitrogen fertilizer, state officials said Monday.

Marvin Van Haaften, director of the Governor's Office of Drug Control
Policy, said the chemical, known as calcium nitrate, can be added to
each of the 26,000 tanks used in Iowa for the application of anhydrous ammonia.

The discovery of the inhibitor has national and international
implications because of the widespread use of methamphetamine, he said.

Gov. Tom Vilsack hailed the discovery as a way to make Iowa's
communities safer.

"The message to all those who are interested in making meth is,
'don't bother,' " Vilsack said. "This will reduce to zero the meth
that is cooked in Iowa."

Ninety percent of meth used in Iowa is imported from other states or
Mexico, Van Haaften said, but discovery of the inhibitor will be a
serious barrier for Iowa-based meth makers.

Farmers use anhydrous ammonia to fertilize fields for corn. Locks
have been installed on many anhydrous tanks, but they still have been
broken into by meth makers.

Iowa State University chemistry professors George Kraus and John
Verkade discovered adding calcium nitrate to anhydrous ammonia tanks
renders the fertilizer useless as a meth ingredient.

The chemists researched the question for six years, using $1.2
million in federal money secured by U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., and
Charles Grassley, R-Ia.

Harkin also credited U.S. Reps. Leonard Boswell, D-Ia., and Steve
King, R-Ia., for their work in the House of Representatives for
securing the money.

"It was an accidental discovery," Verkade said.

Kraus said the two chemists worked with John Whipple of the Iowa
Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to find a chemical
that would be effective and environmentally benign.

Calcium nitrate, which is another form of nitrogen fertilizer, fits
both requirements, he said.

The fertilizer is made by Yara, a Norwegian-based company.

Ross Johnson, national sales manager for Yara North America, said the
company imports about 200,000 tons a year of calcium nitrate into the
United States.

Dave Coppess of Heartland Cooperative said adding calcium nitrate to
anhydrous ammonia at a rate of 9 gallons a ton costs about $1 to $1.50 an acre.

It will be difficult to add the meth inhibitor to all the anhydrous
ammonia tanks in Iowa this fall, when many farmers like to apply
fertilizer, Coppess said, but it can be done by spring.