RETAILERS COULD HELP STOP METH'S SPREAD

Operation CHEM Training, Used In Franklin County, May Go Statewide To Boost
Awareness.

Jefferson City - Law enforcement agencies don't often get calls from the
public about suspicious activities surrounding methamphetamine because,
they say, people often don't know what to watch for. But Missouri Sheriffs'
Association executive director James Vermeersch hopes that will change
under a program that started in Franklin County and soon could expand
statewide.

Operation CHEM, short for Companies Helping Eliminate Meth, trains
retailers about how the everyday products they sell - from Sudafed cold
tablets to coffee filters or batteries - can be used in the manufacture of
the illegal drug methamphetamine.

And if retail clerks notice customers regularly stocking up on the products
that go into making meth, they're encouraged to call police and give them
customers' names, addresses, vehicle license plate numbers and physical
descriptions.

As it is, "the citizen doesn't know" much about methamphetamine, and "the
clerk behind the counter hasn't been educated that this activity would be
suspicious," Vermeersch said.

For two straight years, Missouri has led the nation in the number of meth
lab raids.

Last year, more than one out of every six meth labs in the country were
found in Missouri, federal and state figures showed. That's a roughly 28
percent increase over 2001 numbers and widens the gap between Missouri and
the rest of the nation.

U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof and law enforcement in Franklin County met in
February about the meth problem, and that meeting led Hulshof to include
$300,000 in a federal spending bill to expand the county program to the
rest of the state. The bill already has passed the House and awaits final
approval by the U.S. Senate next month.

The Franklin County sheriff's office started the program about a year ago.

Pete Buxton, manager of the Dickey Bud Farm and Home store in Union, said
the program has increased employees' knowledge of their merchandise and
possibly scared off some who planned to buy or steal ingredients to make
methamphetamine.

The effort is the latest example of ways authorities are trying to stop the
drug's spread. A new state law restricts the sale of some common cold
products. Along with anti-theft measures, the law limits shoppers to buying
two packages, or 6 grams, of pseudoephedrine at one time.

Pseudoephedrine is the active ingredient in many over-the-counter
decongestants.

Already, Franklin County has seen a drop in the number of meth labs, and
Cpl. Jason Grellner, who developed the CHEM program for the sheriff's
office, credits the education effort.

Last year there were 2,743 meth lab investigations statewide, and Capt. Ron
Replogle, director of the State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime
Control, said that number could climb this year to nearly 3,000.

Jasper County led the state with 178 meth raids and seizures last year.
Franklin County ranked second with 152, up from 67 in 2001, and Jefferson
County was third with 148.

This year, Franklin County's count should drop between 100 to 115, Grellner
said.

"The success they've seen in Franklin County is what we want to see
statewide," Replogle said.

Grellner said officers don't want clerks or store owners to act like
citizen cops, but rather to be eyes and ears for law enforcement, and leave
the investigating to them.

"We're not asking retailers in any way to be a vigilante force," he said.
"All we're looking for is information they have."

Hulshof, R-Mo., called the program an innovative approach to combating the
problem.

Replogle, Grellner and representatives from law enforcement and retailers
groups met last week in Jefferson City to figure out how best to use that
federal money, and they also will seek private funds.

Grellner said ideas include creating a video for law enforcement to use to
educate retailers about the concepts, along with CDs or pamphlets of
information to share with the public about meth.

"We just figured that since we know how to do it and bad guys know how to
do it, everybody knows how to do it," he said.

If the program works across Missouri, Hulshof said he could suggest it
elsewhere.