METH LAB SEIZURES ON RISE

When Rite-Aid pharmacy manager Tim Lewis tries to scan more than two
packages of cold medicine into the cash register, it won't allow the sale.

"When you scan the third box, it'll say, 'EHH, sorry. You're a drug head.
Please refer to front door," Lewis joked.

But Mississippi lawmakers say rising occurrences of at-home methamphetamine
labs in the state necessitate regulations like those already in place at
many Pine Belt stores like Rite-Aid.

"These labs are becoming more and more of a problem in our state," said
state Rep. Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg. "We have to control the
proliferation of labs by addressing the source, which in this case is the
precursor pseudoephedrine."

A bill passed through the House Judiciary A Committee last week that would
limit the sale of common cold medications like Sudafed, which contains
pseudoephedrine. An amendment to the bill could also mandate that the drugs
only be handled behind the pharmacy counter.

"We debated it at length because it's not illegal to possess this type of
medicine, but what we are trying to do is regulate people who purchase
large quantities and convert it through an illegal process into an illegal
drug," Watson said.

But state Sen. Billy Harvey, D-Prentiss, said he doesn't think a law would
do much good.

"I don't want to go jerk a bunch of things off the shelves," he said. "I
don't think we should just jump into something like this until we've done a
full study."

Pine Belt law enforcement agencies, on the other hand, advocate the bill.

"Every county in the state of Mississippi is having these problems," said
Perry County Sheriff Carlos Herring. "It's our top priority (in Perry
County) to combat these meth labs and the people who are using meth."

Herring said meth-related arrests make up at least 50 percent of the Perry
County Jail population.

"It could probably go to 75 percent because being on this meth causes them
to do other things, like burglaries and fighting and carrying on," he said.

Earlier this month, Perry County resident Randy Windham died after a
chemical explosion at an illegal meth lab near Runnelstown. Mississippi
Bureau of Narcotics agents at the time said his was the third such death in
the state in less than two months.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, only 57 illegal meth labs
in the state were seized in 1999, compared to 336 in 2003.

"(Metham-phetamine) is cheap and it's fairly easy to make," said Lamar
County Sheriff Danny Rigel. "There are a lot of rural areas around here
where they can make it and not be detected. I'm all for the bill. I don't
think you're going to hear the guy with the head cold complaining."

Not all Pine Belt pharmacists think the legislation will do much good.

"They can find a way to abuse anything out here," said Anita Jordan, a
pharmacy technician at the Lincoln Square Pharmacy in Hattiesburg.

"I do think we should be able to regulate the sale of these items that
they're using," said the pharmacy's owner, Gary Drennan. "But you just
don't know what they'll come up with. If you sit around and try things out,
you'll eventually pop on something that gives you that sense of well-being
they're looking for."

Experts say that although the problem is not a new one, more and more
people are abusing methamphetamines.

The Mississippi Department of Health admitted 161 people in 1997 for meth
addiction, said Dr. Sue McLain of the department. In 2003, there were more
than 1,500 admissions.

Addicts cook drugs like pseudoephedrine, lithium strips from batteries,
anhydrous ammonia and lye to make the narcotics, experts say.

"They take these poisons, mix them together and apply heat," said Eric
Dear, chief of emergency services for the Department of Environmental
Quality. "It can be a deadly combination."

Explosions like the one in Perry County Jan. 8 can also cost from $3,500 to
$25,000 to clean up, Dear said.

But even without enacting a law, Lewis said regulations are necessary.

"We had to put most of the cold medication behind the counter just to stop
the stealing," he said. "We're losing about 100 tablets a week to theft."