Meth: An Insidiuous Poison, Part 2

NEW LAW REGULATES SALES OF DRUG'S INGREDIENTS

Police, Retailers, Citizens Collaborate To Make It Hard For Meth Cookers
To Get Components.

Methamphetamine makers may have a hard time finding ingredients needed
to produce the drug sweeping the nation.

Gov. Bob Holden recently signed into law a bill increasing the
punishment for people who steal chemicals such as anhydrous ammonia and
liquid nitrate.

The law also regulates over-the-counter sales of precursor drugs such as
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.

George Koerble, owner of George's Pharmacy in Springfield, said he has
taken already taken precautions.

"We don't even have that stuff out in the open where customers could see
it," Koerble said. "We keep items like Sudafed and generic Sudafed out
of reach. If we don't know the people asking for it, they probably won't
get it."

Sudafed is a nasal decongestant that contains ephedrine, the primary
chemical used to make methamphetamine.

State Sen. Anita Yeckel, R-St. Louis County, sponsored the portion of
the bill regulating the sale of precursor drugs.

"We had drug manufacturers, law enforcement officers, retailers,
everyone working on this bill," she said. "It's a terrifically big
problem in Missouri. Everyone is inconvenienced but they were all
willing to work together."

Police officials say the bill should help in their continuous fight to
control the meth problem that remains a top priority in nearly every
county in southwest Missouri.

"I think it could give us a little more bite," said Sgt. Grant Dorrell
of the Springfield Police drug unit.

Officers will now be able to arrest people with large quantities of
pseudoephedrine and other meth ingredients. Before they had to show
intent.

"Everybody knows if you have 1,000 pseudoephedrine tablets, that you
don't have a cold," Dorrell said.

Yeckel said she was surprised at the number of retailers who were
willing to patrol and report suspicious activity in their business.

Lionel Bridges, the general manager at MFA Agri Services in Republic,
said he has filed a number of reports with police.

"For a time, we were having trouble with people buying tremendous
amounts of iodine," Bridges said. "Farmers use it to treat wounds. A
pint of iodine can usually last a farmer for about a year. These people
were coming in and buying three or four pints at a time."

Iodine is used to make red phosphorous methamphetamine.

"After a while, we realized something wasn't right so we put it under
lock and key and we make anyone who purchases it sign a tax form that
says they are a farmer," Bridges said.

Retailers have been helping police for several years as the growth of
meth has exploded. Other people, such as customers at area stores, have
also pitched in, said Capt. George Larbey of the Greene County Sheriff's
Department drug unit.

People aware of what is used to make methamphetamine have called in tips
to authorities if they've seen someone buying those things in bulk.

"We've had people at stores taking the time to take down license plate
numbers and call us saying, 'I saw people in this car buying three
bubble packs apiece of medicine,'" Larbey said. "John Q. Citizen is
helping."

Legislators made it a point to target those people who commit crimes
involving anhydrous ammonia. The law increases the penalty for stealing
any amount of anhydrous ammonia or liquid nitrogen "from a Class D to a
Class C felony."

The theft of bulk containers of anhydrous ammonia now constitutes a
Class A felony.

Next Article: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n1221.a02.html