METH LAW EASILY AVOIDED

TV, Newspaper Offer Demonstration

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Indiana's new methamphetamine law, passed last
spring to restrict sales of cold medicines used to make meth, can
easily be circumvented, a newspaper and a television station have
found. The Evansville Courier & Press and WEHT-TV's hidden-camera
investigation followed a volunteer who repeatedly visited pharmacies
in Evansville over three days in October.

The volunteer, a woman, was able to buy 19 boxes of pseudoephedrine,
which amounts to 528 pills of 30-milligram Sudafed -- enough to make
more than two batches of meth.

The investigation by the paper and TV station found that all of the
pharmacies followed the law, asking for the volunteer's
identification and making her sign a log.

No individual store sold her more Sudafed than the law allows, but
because the pharmacies use paper records and are not linked to a
network, they cannot prevent someone from exceeding the limit by
shopping at multiple stores. "With the paper logs, there's not that
ability to do that," Walgreens spokeswoman Carol Hively said.

CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis said, "Obviously, we can't prevent 100
percent someone who is bound and determined to do it and to invest a
significant amount of time."

Indiana's new meth law, which took effect July 1, affects everyone
who buys cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Violating the new
law by buying more than three grams of pseudoephedrine in seven days
is a Class C misdemeanor.

Despite that, no one from law enforcement contacted the volunteer
about the purchases, even though she bought many of the cold pills in
the same geographic areas.

The new law requires Indiana State Police to eventually create an
electronic database so investigators and retailers can identify
people who buy pseudoephedrine.

State police are pursuing the money for such a database, but its
implementation is years away, said Sgt. Todd Ringle, a spokesman for
the agency. Police say they check the logs to see if anyone is
violating the law and use that information to build cases against
makers of meth. However, to date, no one in Vanderburgh County has
been charged with violating the new law. Supporters of the law point
to the declining number of meth labs dismantled in Vanderburgh County
- -- 39 so far this year, compared with 69 for all of last year. And
they say the law is having some effect in reducing both the
production and use of meth.

"The fact that it is not preventing 100 percent does not mean it is
not successful," Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco said. A
legislator who supported the restrictions, Rep. Trent Van Haaften,
D-Mount Vernon, noted that addiction to methamphetamine causes
paranoia. "If a meth person has to go through the hoops of presenting
ID and all of that, they're not going to bother," Van Haaften said.
But individual stores' compliance with the law varies, Ringle said.

A narcotics detective, Sgt. Mike Lauderdale of the
Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, said investigators
visit pharmacies several times a month to check log books for names
of frequent Sudafed purchasers. Stores must keep the logs for two
years for police to review, Ringle said. But ultimately, it's the
responsibility of police, not merchants, to check the records.