SENATE METH MEASURE DRAWS ANGRY RESPONSE

House Took Tougher Approach

Police and some state legislators fear that what was supposed to be the
nation's strongest anti-methamphetamine measure has been changed so much
that it could undermine Missouri's war on meth.

Legislators will meet today to discuss ways to reconcile the tough House
version of the bill and a Senate version that some police say could do more
harm than good. The dispute revolves around a chemical that can be used to
fight colds - and make meth.

To produce even a small amount of meth, most drug makers buy or steal
hundreds of cold pills containing pseudoephedrine. The chemical is
essential and so abundant that most meth experts believe tighter control
over pseudoephedrine is the most effective and least expensive way to fight
Missouri's meth explosion.

The state leads the nation in meth raids and seizures, with 2,725 recorded
last year.

Currently, retailers can sell up to three boxes - or 9 grams - of
pseudoephedrine products to a customer. Last month, the Missouri House
voted 136-12 to set the limit at two boxes, or 6 grams. That legislation
also would force retailers to stock the cold pills within six feet of a
cash register, store them behind a counter or tag them with electronic
anti-theft systems.

But state senators voted this week to keep the current limit on
pseudoephedrine sales, allow retailers to stock the products within 15 feet
of the register and void many municipal ordinances restricting the sale of
meth ingredients.

Sen. Anita Yeckel, R-Sunset Hills, who sponsored the Senate bill, said the
changes weakened - and may kill - her bill.

"It was amended in a way so that it is only the smallest improvement over
current law," Yeckel said, "and then they rewrote our pre-emption clause."

That clause would void all municipal ordinances that contain tougher
pseudoephedrine restrictions.

Last year, St. Peters enacted an ordinance forcing retailers to keep cold
pills behind counters after a security guard was fatally crushed by a
get-away vehicle carrying a woman suspected of shoplifting 15 boxes of cold
pills from a grocery there. This year, Arnold adopted a measure forcing
stores to keep a record of all customers who buy more than one box of the
medicine at a time. Dozens of Missouri cities have followed St. Peters'
lead, and several cities are considering the Arnold ordinance.

Arnold Mayor Mark Powell called the pre-emption clause "ridiculous" and
said legislators had caved in to pressure from drug industry lobbyists.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which represents
manufacturers and distributors of over-the-counter medicines, and the
Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association lobbied
against the original legislation. They contend that the House version would
be too restrictive and would unfairly target certain kinds of cold pills.

Sen. Ken Jacob offered the amendment deleting the two-package restriction,
arguing that the limit would effectively make criminals out of some sick
people. Jacob, D-Columbia, said he often buys several packages of cold
medicine at one time when he is ailing. "We are trying to punish the
business person, and we are making it inconvenient on the consumer," Jacob
said.

St. Peters police Capt. Jeff Finkelstein said that city's ordinance is
successful and shouldn't be scrapped.

"I don't think that the state should step in and undo our solving this
problem," he said.

Detective Jason Grellner, head of a three-man narcotics unit in the
Franklin County Sheriff's Department, helped write the original
legislation. He said that the amended Senate bill won't make it any harder
for meth cooks to buy and steal pseudoephedrine, which he says it the key
to fighting the drug.

"The answer to this problem seems to be staring all of us in the face, and
nobody wants to do anything about it," Grellner said.