ANTI-METH BILL MAY PASS THIS MONTH

House Bill 441, the S.T.O.P. Meth Act, would restrict pseudoephedrine sales.

With a blue wall of uniformed lawmen as his backdrop, state Rep. Jack
Goodman said Friday he expects anti-meth legislation restricting
pseudoephedrine sales in Missouri to pass the House by month's end.

Goodman's prediction carries a certain weight. The Mount Vernon Republican
is assistant majority floor leader.

Goodman is also one of four legislators co-sponsoring House Bill 441, or the
S.T.O.P. Meth Act. S.T.O.P. stands for securing and tracking of
pseudoephedrine, an over-the-counter nasal decongestant instrumental in
making meth.

The bill mirrors legislation a Senate committee forwarded to the full
chamber earlier this week for debate.

Both proposals are modeled after an Oklahoma law passed last April that
moved starch-based pseudoephedrine tablets behind pharmacy counters.

Without ephedrine extracted from the easily dissolved tablets, meth cooks
can't make the highly addictive stimulant.

In Oklahoma, customers must now show photo identification and sign a written
log when buying the tablets. The law also prohibits them from buying more
than three packages in 30 days.

Meth lab seizures in Oklahoma have dropped 80 percent since the law passed,
according to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.

Goodman and the other lawmakers sponsoring HB441 said the restrictions would
not inconvenience law-abiding Missourians, because liquid cold medicine and
gel caps will still be available in supermarkets and convenience stores.

More important, they said, a law like Oklahoma's would aid law enforcement
officials fighting the war on meth in Missouri.

"These are the true soldiers in the war against methamphetamine," Goodman
said. "The most we can do is provide them some ammunition."

Until Missouri cracks down on pseudoephedrine, law enforcement agencies will
continue "treading water," said Rep. Scott Lipke, a Republican from Jackson
co-sponsoring the bill.

In 2003, Missouri recorded 2,860 meth lab incidents - the most of any state
in the country. California was second with some 1,200 incidents.

The 2004 numbers are still being tallied, but Missouri is expected to top
the list for the fourth year in a row, said Maj. Jim Keathley with the
Missouri Highway Patrol.

"This is something we've been waiting for and needing as one of our tools
for years," he said. "And it looks like we might finally get it."

Even if the legislature enacted a law similar to Oklahoma's and reduced the
number of lab incidents by 50 percent, Missouri would still lead the nation,
Keathley said.

"That's how bad it is."

Rep. Wes Wagner - the sole Democrat co-sponsoring HB441 - represents
Jefferson County, where drug task officers seized a record-high 313 meth
labs in 2004. Oklahoma's law is working and it will work here, Wagner
insisted.

Greene, Jasper and Franklin counties are also expected to be among the top
five counties in terms of meth labs seized last year, said Capt. Ron
Replogle with the patrol.

Through the end of November, Missouri law enforcement agencies had reported
2,531 meth lab incidents with a year-end projected total of 2,761 - just 100
less than in 2003.

"We're going to be No. 1," Keathley said. "I don't think there's any doubt
about it."

Those numbers won't drop until Missouri adopts a law similar to Oklahoma's,
said Rep. Bob Behnen, another of the bill's co-sponsors.

"The time is come for a very serious approach," Behnen said. "In the Show-Me
State, we look to people who have shown that it has worked."