METH LABS CONTINUE TO BE PROBLEM

The Head Of Franklin County's Drug Task Force Said Missouri Is On
Track To Being No. 1 Again This Year In Meth Labs Seizures.

"Missouri will lead the nation again in meth labs," predicted
Detective Sgt. Jason Grellner, commander of the Franklin County
Narcotics Enforcement Unit (FCNEU).

Grellner said Missouri authorities expect the number of meth lab
seizures to reach between 1,000 and 1,200 by the end of the year.
Nearly 50 percent of those will be in the St. Louis region which
includes Franklin County and other nearby counties.

While Missouri will remain at the top, the actual number of labs
seized will be down from last year, Grellner said.

Despite passage of new state and federal laws that restrict the sale
of pseudoephedrine, "labs continue to be a problem," Grellner said.

Grellner was in Washington, D.C., last week attending a meeting of
the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, a group formed under
the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He was appointed to the
Meth Precursor Tracking Advisory Committee which first met last
March, then corresponded through conference calls and via the Internet.

The committee met for the last time last week to develop
recommendations on standardized computer reporting and a nationwide
data base to track people who are "smurfing," or going from store to
store to purchase medications containing pseudoephedrine, the vital
ingredient needed to make methamphetamine.

"We're looking at pseudoephedrine tracking and full prescription
monitoring programs" to stem the flow of illegal prescription drugs
as well as meth-making ingredients, Grellner said. "This group sought
to come up with standards for both and integrate them."

Grellner is secretary of the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association
which will be lobbying lawmakers again next session to pass
legislation to control the availability of pseudoephedrine.

He said the cost to install a statewide tracking program and
real-time reporting database would be about $1 million. Annual
maintenance costs would run about $300,000, he noted.

Last year was the first full year for Missouri's new anti-meth law
that restricts the sale of medicine containing pseudoephedrine. A
similar federal law also went into effect in 2006.

Even though the laws limit how much pseudoephedrine a person can buy
in any month, meth manufacturers have resorted to pill shopping in
other states and going to multiple pharmacies.

The law also requires everyone who buys pseudoephedrine to show a
photo I.D. and sign a log.

The county narcotics unit, in cooperation with pharmacies, has used
those logs to develop intelligence information about violators.

Under the new laws, and with increased enforcement efforts, the
number of meth labs in Franklin County dropped from 103 in 2005 to 69
last year.

Grellner said while meth labs in Missouri will be down for the year,
"they've pretty much hit a plateau."

The only state seeing a marked downward slide is Oregon which has
passed legislation making pseudoephedrine a Schedule 3 drug that
requires a doctor's prescription.

Following are the total lab seizures in Franklin County in other
recent years. The numbers include labs seized in Franklin County by
the sheriff's office, police departments, the highway patrol and
federal agencies.

2004 - 138;

2003 - 107;

2002 - 152;

2001 - 67;

2000 - 48;

1999 - 48;

1998 - 24; and

1997 - one.