CALEDONIA EYES ORDINANCE TO FIGHT METH

CALEDONIA - Town Marshal Chris Griffin warned Caledonia Aldermen
Tuesday that the city isn't immune to the spread of methamphetamine,
which can be made by amateur cooks with a variety of household
chemicals, and urged the board to pass an ordinance to create a
mandatory registry to help law enforcement officials help fight the
spread of the drug.

A State Senate Bill passed in 2005 made the purchase, possession,
transfer or distribution of any two or more meth precursor chemicals
illegal, and urged retailers to voluntarily keep registers of
customers who buy precursors.

Griffin said he wants to take the state law a step further and make
the registry mandatory in Caledonia.

"There's a thing sweeping our country - sweeping our area - called
crystal meth, and it's got bad," said Griffin, who wants retailers to
record the name, drivers license number and purchase order of all
customers who buy precursors.

"After so many purchases after 30 days, retailers are no longer
allowed to sell it anymore, because most likely they (customers) are
using it to make crystal meth. The registry will ensure that."

Griffin said retailers would seal the log in an envelope and turn it
in on the first Monday of each month to the Caledonia Town Hall for
the Marshal's Department.

Precursors listed in the state law include iodine, ether, ephedrine -
an active ingredient in antihistamines, lithium, freon, sodium metal,
and sulfuric acid among others.

States which have approved registries include Illinois, Minnesota,
Montana and Tennessee.

Georgia, Maine, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia are
considering creating meth registries.

Griffin said common meth users travel from city to city and between
states to purchase the precursors.

He said he had the idea for the mandatory registry while visiting
Alabama, which has passed laws requiring drugs which can be used in
making meth be restricted. These products are also restricted in
Mississippi, but without mandatory registries, Griffin said it is
difficult for law enforcement officials to curb precursor sales.

"People in Alabama come over here because people don't know them," he
said. "This log will help keep up with them."

Griffin said obtaining ephedrine in Alabama has become more difficult
because many retailers either have stopped selling the drug, don't
want to participate in the Alabama registry, or want to avoid the
hassle of having meth users as customers.

On Aug. 14, Pickens County, Ala., District Judge Ira B. Colvin was
arrested in Lowndes County for meth possession and was arrested again
Aug. 26 after more of the drug was discovered in his office.

On Aug. 11, three people from Vernon, Ala., and Reform, Ala., were
arrested by Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents in Lowndes County
on meth charges.

Griffin told board members buying the products, many of which are
commonly found in the home, isn't illegal, but wanted law enforcement
to be aware of the quantity of precursors sold.

"If this log is kept, you can look at the log and say what each person
has bought. It's pretty evident what these people are doing with it,"
he said. "If you don't want to fill the log out, go somewhere else to
buy it."

The Dollar General store in Caledonia already does not sell items
which can be used as meth precursors.

Mayor Bill Lawrence urged the creation of the ordinance and said
keeping the city safe from meth should be a priority.

With the board's approval, Board Attorney Jeff Smith said he and
Griffin will draft an ordinance to be voted on at the board's next
meeting on Oct. 3.