TALENT PUSHES FEDERAL METH BILL LOCALLY

Getting A Federal Methamphetamine Control Law On The Books Would Be A
Big Step Toward Reducing The Drug's Effects On Society, U.S. Sen. Jim
Talent Said Saturday

"The only silver lining in the cloud is that the chemists, DEA (Drug
Enforcement Agency) and law enforcement assure me that they have to
have pseudoephedrine to make the drug," the Missouri Republican told
reporters and several law enforcement representatives Saturday
afternoon. "And, for the average local meth cook, the only way
they're going to get that is through the cold medicines that are being sold."

The U.S. Senate already has passed the bill promoted by Talent and
Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-California. The House-Senate conference
committee appears to be the final step to passing it.

Talent said the centerpiece of the bill is its stronger restrictions
on access to pseudoephedrine, the "jugular vein" of meth production.

"If you put your finger down on that, it will choke off the local
labs, anyway," Talent explained Saturday. "This bill goes further
than any other state has gone, because we apply it also to liquids
and gel caps.

"We feel like we want to get ahead of the meth cooks."

Talent said the bill also may encourage pharmaceutical companies to
develop a "drug that (is) as effective as pseudoephedrine," using
ingredients that can't also be used in making meth.

"This drug is the worst drug threat that we've ever faced in the 20
years that I've been in public life," he said. "It is seriously
addictive. It changes the structure of the brain, so it really can do
irreparable damage.

"And it's very hard to quit."

Talent said the existence of meth is proof the nation continues to
need a "war on drugs," even though critics say the decades-long
battle is an expensive waste of time.

"This drug, nobody can argue, can be used recreationally (and)
safely. It can't," he said. "This drug destroys people."

Although many states, like Missouri, have taken steps to reduce the
meth problem, Talent said Congress is working on its bill because,
"We see this as a national problem. There isn't a state anymore that
hasn't experienced this.

"And those that are not epidemic will be, if we don't do something."

Many of those states also are experiencing greater expenses for their
county jails, Talent said, when they arrest meth addicts.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White agreed.

"The year before last, what we spent on our jail medical budget was a
little over $50,000," he said. "Last year, we spent a little over $63,000.

"And I'm going to be surprised if we can get in under $100,000 this year."

White said the cost increases don't include any overtime expenses for
staff who must watch a jail inmate who is hospitalized, nor does it
include any prescriptions ordered for inmates.

"When you look at the numbers of labs that we take down, and the
numbers of people that we bring in who have been regular users of ...
pretty heavy drugs, they're going to have higher medical problems," White said.

"Unfortunately, most of these people also don't have health
insurance, and that means the citizens of the counties are footing
the bill for their health care" while those people are in jail.