PROGRAM AIMED AT BREAKING LINK LEADING TO METH PRODUCTION

TUSCALOOSA -- The West Alabama Narcotics Task Force is stepping up
its efforts in the burgeoning war against the near-epidemic outbreak
of methamphetamine with the introduction of new program called Meth Watch.

"Meth Watch is a program we're starting that'll network the Task
Force and every business that participates in the program with us
together by a fax machine system," said Capt. Jeff Snyder, commander
of the task force.

"How it works is, whenever someone buys a product that has an active
ingredient that can be used to make methamphetamine, that person's
information as well as the amount of the product they bought will be
faxed to us and every other business in the network," Snyder said.

Snyder said the Meth Watch program would help the Task Force and
participating area businesses that carry products that contain
ingredients used in making methamphetamine to keep track of who is
buying what products and how much a person is buying.

"We have a lot of stores in Tuscaloosa that sell the chemicals needed
to make meth," he said. "A lot of other counties don't sell this
stuff, so we have people coming in from all over to buy these products here."

"So if we got the stores here participating in Meth Watch, we could
strike a tremendous blow in the fight against meth," he said.

Products such as Sudafed, Drano, any type of sinus tablets that
contain pseudoephedrine, Acetone, carburetor cleaners, iodine, drain
cleaners, denatured alcohol and red phosphorous such as from matches
can all be used to make methamphetamine once the right/schemicals are
extracted and combined, Snyder said.

"Through Meth Watch, we'll know and businesses will know exactly how
much of a product a person's already bought from other stores,"
Snyder said. "With this information, stores will be able to deny or
limit that person's purchase when that person tries to buy the same product."

"The program will also let us know if that person's been shopping for
meth ingredients by going to different stores around town buying all
the various products that can be used to make meth," he said.

Snyder said the Task Force would be available to train the employees
of every store that joins the Meth Watch program on what signs to
look for when dealing with people trying to buy products to make
methamphetamine.

Justin Quinn, a shift supervisor at CVS pharmacy on 15th Street, said
the Meth Watch program sounds like something his store would be interested in.

"I can't speak for the whole company, but the program sounds great,"
Quinn said.

"Right now all we have is a notebook we use to take a person's
information down when they buy Sudafed products, which does good to
help us keep track of how much we're selling to that person, but it
doesn't stop that person from going next door and buying more," he said.

In 2000 there were no arrests involving the manufacturing and
trafficking of methamphetamine in Tuscaloosa County, Snyder said.

However, in 2002 there were 69 arrests, and in 2005 there were 176.

"So in five years you can see what's it's done," Snyder said. "There
are laws that help us specifically fight this thing, but it's still
growing. I wouldn't say it's on the epidemic level yet, but it's bad,
especially in the rural areas.

"In fact, in the 17 years I've been in narcotics, it's by far the
worst drug I've ever seen," he said. "It's so addictive. It absorbs a
person and destroys families. All their life is about is paranoia and
that addiction. I've seen crack addicts handle their addiction better
than meth addicts."

On Aug. 2, 2004, the state passed a law limiting the sale of products
containing 60 milligrams or more of pseudoephedrine to three packages.

Businesses interested in participating in the Meth Watch Program can
call the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force at 205-349-0410.