STATE MUST GET TOUGH ON THE METH PROBLEM

Tennessee should seriously consider approving recommendations of a state
task force looking at methamphetamine, including a proposal to restrict
sales of common items used for making the drug.

The governor's task force on meth offered seven key elements of its
strategy after studying the effects of the cheap, easy-to-make substance.
The most controversial of those recommendations is the call to limit the
availability of some forms of over-the-counter substances pseudoephedrine
and ephedrine that are commonly found in cold and sinus remedies.

The concerns about such a move are obvious. The state should think long and
hard about restricting the purchase of legal substances, which are usually
innocently consumed by people battling colds. The task-force recommendation
would make it illegal to possess such items with the intent of
manufacturing methamphetamine or to sell the substances with knowledge they
will be used to make meth.

Such regulation would need concise definitions about purchases. If adopted,
the measure would put the onus on the people behind drug-store counters.
Those people would in many respects be policing the flow of the substance.
The recommendations suggest that identification of purchasers be required
and that records be kept of such sales. The state should bear in mind that
if those store workers are, in fact, encountering meth makers, they could
be interfering with the wishes of desperate people. Security should be a
priority in such an arrangement, and people with the sniffles shouldn't all
be viewed with suspicion.

The task force accurately notes that such restrictive steps should not be
taken without trying to expand them to other states. If people are thwarted
in trying to buy pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, they could simply cross
state borders to get what they want. Other recommendations include
increasing funding to fight meth, with an emphasis on the need for a
long-term approach. They also call for comprehensive means of educating the
public about meth, imposing tough penalties among repeat offenders,
concentrating on the danger to children especially in terms of
contamination from residue and coordinating all those items with federal,
state and local officials.

Tennessee law enforcement agencies across the state have been sounding the
alarm about methamphetamine for many months. The special task force has put
forth some thorough, thoughtful recommendations. Every suggestion of the
panel is worth exploring. With careful planning, the scourge can be stopped.