RULE AIMED AT CUTTING OFF METH MAKERS

An ordinance designed to curb the making of methamphetamine received
unanimous approval from the Arnold City Council Thursday night.

The ordinance was sponsored by Ward 2 Councilman David Venable and will
require retailers to keep products containing any form of ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine behind the counter.

The ordinance also requires retailers to report the theft or disappearance
of any ephedrine product to police within three days.

Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are upper-respiratory decongestants used in
many over-the-counter cold medications and are key ingredients in the
manufacture of methamphetamine.

According to the FBI, Missouri is the second-largest producer of
methamphetamine, trailing only California.

Venable told his fellow council members that Missouri ranks No. 1 in the
number of illegal meth labs.

"We have people that are going our to their barns and setting up labs and
these labs are unstable," Venable said at the Jan. 9 council work session.

Since most of the ingredients used in the production of meth are readily
available to the public, Venable said city officials should do what they
can to make the purchase or theft of ephedrine-based products less convenient.

"One of the best ways to keep people from getting a hold of this stuff is
to just take it off the shelf," Venable said. "I'm told by folks in the
stores around Arnold that people are going in and taking pack after pack
off the shelves."

Venable said placing ephedrine-based products behind the counter would make
them harder to steal and might discourage meth producers from buying
multiple packages of cold medications containing ephedrine.

Some retailers have restricted the sale of ephedrine-based products on
their own, but acting police chief Robert Shockey said that has lead to an
epidemic of people stealing the products from retailers who don't restrict
their sale.

"Until Wal-Mart put it behind the counter, we were called there daily,"
Shockey said.

Council members discussed the possibility of making people show
identification or sign their name when buying more than one package of
ephedrine-based cold medication, but that provision was not included in the
ordinance that was passed.

Shockey said the ordinance would help curb the theft of ephedrine-based
products.

"I want us to be on the cutting edge," Shockey said. "This (meth) is a poor
man's drug. It is cheaper than marijuana and it's highly addictive."

Shockey said law enforcement uncovered more than 280 meth labs in Jefferson
County last year, nine of which were in Arnold.

"I want the drug dealers to know that we don't want them in our town," said
Mayor Mark Powell. ""We've got to take a step to make it stop. This is a
very serious problem in Jefferson County."

Shockey said the new ordinance would be step in the right direction.

In other business, the city council overrode a veto by Powell to pass an
ordinance amending the city's liquor control law.

Last month, Powell vetoed a bill that would have reduced the distance
allowed between establishments licensed to sell liquor and churches and
schools from 300 feet to 100 feet.

The city's liquor control committee recommended passage of the amendment,
saying the current distance restriction would prevent certain restaurants
from locating within 300 feet of a school or church.

Powell said there was no immediate need to shorten the distance requirement
and said the requirement was established out of concern for the safety of
youths as well places of worship.

The council voted 6-2 to pass the amendment over Powell's veto. Ward 3
Councilman Phil Amato and Ward 4's Al Ems voted against the amendment.