NEW BREW OF METH LAWS MAKES MISSOURI AN ANTI-DRUG LAB

Some of the nation's toughest measures targeting methamphetamine production
were signed into Missouri law Tuesday. Now, more than ever, the state will
be watched by narcotics experts and policymakers who want to stop the
biggest drug explosion since crack cocaine more than 15 years ago.

Missouri drug investigators say the meth made here is often twice as strong
as meth found in other parts of the country because of a potent recipe. The
new laws target key ingredients in that recipe.

Meth is a powerful stimulant that can be smoked, injected or taken in pill
form. In recent years, use of the drug has exploded across the Midwest,
especially in Missouri. The state leads the nation in meth raids and
seizures, with 2,725 recorded last year. In Illinois, authorities made 525
seizures last year, up from about 229 the year before. Illinois now ranks
ninth in the number of meth raids.

One of the new laws makes it harder to buy or shoplift ephedrine and the
more common pseudoephedrine, which is used in many over-the-counter cold
remedies. The law also bans the unauthorized release into the atmosphere of
anhydrous ammonia, the fertilizer used to make high-grade meth. A second
law makes it a felony - punishable by up to life in prison - to produce
meth or other drugs near children.

In Illinois, the Legislature passed a measure this year that would double
the criminal penalties for making meth in the presence of children. That
measure is awaiting the governor's signature.

Since 2001, Missouri law has barred retailers from selling more than three
boxes, or 9 grams, of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine medications to a
customer. The new law maintains that limit for so-called multisymptom
remedies that use ephedrine or pseudoephedrine along with other drugs, but
forbids stores from selling more than two boxes, or 6 grams, of products
that have ephedrine or pseudoephedrine as the sole active ingredient. The
law also requires shopkeepers to stock the pills within 10 feet of a cash
register, store them behind a counter or tag them with electronic
anti-theft sensors.

A national expert on meth said that by making it more difficult to obtain
meth ingredients, Missouri will lead other states in the right direction.

"The problem with small meth labs like those in Missouri is that they are
easy to create, easy to conceal and - if they're in an automobile - easy to
move. Police can't possibly find every lab or arrest every cook," said
Michael S. Scott, a consultant for the U.S. Justice Department and a former
administrator for the St. Louis Police Department. He added, "You have to
make it more difficult for the inexperienced, amateurish cooks that are
just getting started."

Detective Jason Grellner, head of a three-man narcotics unit in the
Franklin County Sheriff's Department, helped write the law restricting cold
pills used to make meth. He is already talking to meth investigators in
other Midwestern states who want to push similar laws.

He said the laws are worth the inconvenience they might cause consumers.

"I don't see people dying from the common cold, but I do see people dying
and killing because of methamphetamine," Grellner said.