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.