METH VOTE WAS HUGE VICTORY FOR LAWMEN

The Legislature's rather decisive vote to strike a blow at the supply
of pseudoephedrine available in Mississippi for home meth labs
represents a huge victory for state lawmen and a huge loss for drug
companies and their lobbyists.

Law enforcement agencies don't really have the political clout or the
financial resources to lobby in the classic sense - nor should they
have to engage in that nonsense.

New moonshine? Crystal methamphetamine is the new moonshine in
Mississippi. It's relatively easy to make, the precursors are cheap
and readily available at a lot of locations in even the smallest
Mississippi towns and the demand for the drug is high.

Just as poor Mississippians got into the whiskey still business
during hard times in the state's past, poor Mississippians are also
making meth not simply for consumption themselves but for retail
opportunities as well.

The state's child advocates and law enforcement community will tell
you quickly - as they told legislators this week - that where you
find meth manufacture and consumption, you will also find child
abuse, child molestation, child neglect, prostitution and a host of
other societal evils.

Meth is now officially Mississippi's top drug problem - surpassing
even powder and crack cocaine, according to Mississippi Bureau of
Narcotics Director Marshall Fisher.

That's why the Legislature's apparent decision to make over the
counter cold remedy medications containing pseudoephedrine
prescription-only drugs is such a huge victory for drug enforcement
in this state.

Lobbyists spend Drug companies spent $217, 825 in campaign
contributions to Mississippi politicians in the 2007 elections -
$96,525 in the Senate and $77, 900 in the House alone.

Those drug companies and their lobbyists usually have their way with
the Mississippi Legislature. Watching those lobbyists see the
Legislature do the right thing on this legislation was encouraging.

Will it stop the manufacture and consumption of crystal meth in
Mississippi? No. But it seriously will slow it down.

But if surrounding states follow suit, "the new moonshine" may begin
to lose the stranglehold it has had on so many Mississippians.