BILL WOULD PUT EPHEDRINE BEHIND RETAIL COUNTERS

St. Charles may soon follow St. Peters in requiring retailers to keep
products containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine behind the counter and
away from potential methamphetamine producers.

"This is to keep them off the shelves, out of sight, and also requiring
reporting of thefts so that we're also tracking when there's large-scale
theft of the product," said Councilman Rory Riddler, who is sponsoring the
bill on tonight's council agenda.

"St. Peters led the way on this, and we often in city government learn from
other municipalities," Riddler said. "I think what this does is cut down on
the shoplifting of the product, sort of out-of-sight, out-of-mind as far as
targeting a particular place to hit."

Ephedrine, an ingredient in cold and allergy medications such as Sudafed,
is used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, a drug that has become a
major problem for Missouri.

The St. Peters Board of Aldermen passed a bill last month requiring
retailers to restrict access to products containing ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine. The law takes effect Dec. 1, and the city is believed to
be the first in the country to pass such a measure.

The ordinance is aimed at reducing thefts of ephedrine products. On May 11,
a security guard was killed after being crushed by a getaway vehicle
carrying a woman suspected of shoplifting 15 boxes of Sudafed from a
grocery in St. Peters.

Both Missouri and Illinois limit the amount of drugs used by
methamphetamine producers, such as ephedrine, that can be sold to any one
person by a retail business. Current state laws do not impose restrictions
aimed at reducing theft.

"Any time you can make it more difficult to get ingredients used to make
illegal substances, that's a good thing," said Sgt. Donovan Kenton of the
St. Charles Police Department.

He said the St. Charles police had arrested at least two people this year
who had either attempted to purchase or were shoplifting large amounts of
ephedrine.