CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON MISSOURI'S METH EXPLOSION

Politicians from Arnold to Jefferson City are backing tougher measures to
restrict access to ingredients used to make the drug. An expert at the
conference said such measures aren't enough.

The explosive growth of methamphetamine manufacturing in the Midwest is
spurring a wide range of state and local measures aimed at fighting what
police say is a drug epidemic.

On Friday, at a meeting in Pacific of more than 50 narcotics investigators,
some officers were calling for tougher laws and more money for local drug
task forces, state crime labs and drug treatment programs.

Politicians are pushing different fixes. Because state and local budgets
are being squeezed, they favor measures with no upfront costs, such as
harsher sentencing and restricting access to meth ingredients. While police
say such measures are a start, some officers and a leading meth expert
question how effective they will be in the long run.

Experts say that meth is quickly becoming the No. 1 crime problem in rural
America and that Missouri could be the center of meth use and production in
the Midwest. The powerful drug can be injected, smoked, snorted or taken in
pill form and - complicating the best efforts of law enforcement - can be
made in a few hours from volatile chemicals that easily can be bought
legally or stolen.

U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., hosted the meth forum Friday to discuss
what lawmakers can do to fight the drug. Hulshof said he isn't prepared to
sponsor any new meth legislation, but he said he will research some of the
solutions proposed at the conference.

Ideas included everything from more federal grants to meth-plagued counties
to labeling pseudoephedrine - a key meth ingredient - a controlled narcotic
that would be available only at pharmacies.

Hulshof said meth should get more attention at all levels of government.
"This is a federal, state and local issue that needs to be dealt with in a
more comprehensive way," he said.

Other politicians are proposing get-tough measures.

On Monday, Illinois state Sen. William R. Haine, D-Alton, and Attorney
General Lisa Madigan announced legislation that would double prison
sentences and fines for meth cooks whose operations endanger children.

Sales Curbs

Last year, St. Peters passed an ordinance that forced retailers to keep
cold pills containing pseudoephedrine off the shelves. Customers must
request the pills, which are stored behind counters. Dozens of cities have
followed St. Peters' lead, and some have adopted more stringent rules.

Sullivan, in Franklin County, enacted a measure that prohibits stores from
selling more than two boxes of pills containing pseudoephedrine and
requires shopkeepers to alert police if any of the drugs are stolen or
disappear.

In Jefferson County, Arnold is considering a measure that would require
customers who buy more than one box of such pills to show identification
and sign a log that can be inspected by police. Arnold Mayor Mark Powell
said city residents are "willing to put up with a little inconvenience to
stamp out this horrendous drug."

State Sen. Anita Yeckel, R-Sunset Hills, helped write the current Missouri
law that limits the sale of pills containing pseudoephedrine to three boxes
per customer. This month, she introduced a bill that would reduce the state
limit to two boxes and would force stores either to keep pills behind
counters or install costly anti-theft systems.

Rep. Robert Mayer, R-Dexter, is a sponsor of the House version of the bill.
He called it "one of my top priorities" and said the bill has broad,
bipartisan support. House and Senate committees are due to discuss the
measure at hearings next week.

State Sen. Steve Stoll, D-Festus, plans to propose legislation that would
make it a crime to make methamphetamine in a building where children live
or within 2,000 feet of a school. The measure would be used by prosecutors
to get tougher sentences in meth cases, requiring a minimum sentence of 10
years in prison.

"We need to convince people that there is a risk to making methamphetamine
and they are going to go to prison for it," Stoll said.

Costly Battle

Restricting the sale of meth ingredients and protecting minors exposed to
drug labs are important, but they aren't enough to reverse the meth tide in
Missouri, said a leading expert on the drug.

Michael S. Scott is a law enforcement consultant based in Savannah, Ga.,
and a former administrator for the St. Louis Police Department. He has
researched meth and outlined strategies to fight the drug for the U.S.
Justice Department.

Scott said that tight control of meth ingredients "seems to be one of the
most promising approaches" but that it must be done in concert with other,
costlier tactics.

"Nothing about these meth labs is simple," Scott said. "Everything about
them is extraordinarily complicated, from investigation to gathering
evidence to (addiction) treatment. And it is all expensive."

When a lab is raided, authorities must don expensive protective suits.
After evidence is seized, it can take months of costly testing for a crime
lab to confirm whether it is meth. And then there's the lab to consider.
Environmental regulators consider it a hazardous site and, sometimes, local
governments must pay to clean it up.