IPD SEEKS RETAILERS' HELP IN FIGHTING METH

Mayor Bart Peterson and the Indianapolis Police Department unveiled a
program Tuesday to warn local retailers about the ordinary chemicals and
over-the-counter drugs used to manufacture methamphetamine.

A color poster with information about meth ingredients and ways to
recognize suspicious buyers will be distributed to local retailers by IPD
officers on their beats.

Morgan County officials instituted a similar program in 2001 and credited
at least two busts to help from retailers.

Some common meth ingredients include over-the-counter cold medications,
lithium batteries, acetone, coffee filters, rock salt, lye and matches.

"These are not for human consumption," said Maj. Clifford Myers of IPD's
Covert Investigations Bureau.

Until recently, meth production mostly has been a rural problem, IPD Lt.
Paul Ciesielski said.

Statewide, the number of meth lab busts jumped from 427 in 2000 to 681 in
2001 -- and officials are predicting 800 busts by the end of this year.

Locally, IPD seized 19 pounds of meth in 2001; but in April of this year
alone, they seized 17 pounds.

Myers said the problem of methamphetamine in Indianapolis has been
increasing the past three years.

"We're trying to beat the problem before it becomes a (bigger) problem,"
Ciesielski said.

The poster campaign is the latest in a series of steps officials have taken.

All of IPD's officers received training on the ingredients of
methamphetamine and how to handle the discovery of a meth lab and its
volatile chemicals.

It created the Criminal Interdiction Unit -- four officers who patrol the
roadways of the city, attempting to make drug seizures and arrests during
traffic stops.

The state legislature recently passed a bill that raised the penalties for
methamphetamine use and manufacturing to match those for crack and other
narcotics.