ANHYDROUS AMMONIA LOCKS DISTRIBUTED IN LEE COUNTY

There is no silver bullet to fighting Iowa's growing methamphetamine
epidemic, but a state agency thinks it might have a lock on the problem.

According to the director of the Governor's Office on Drug Control Policy,
Marvin Van Haaften, a new anhydrous ammonia tank-lock program has slowed
the growth of methamphetamine production.

The locks that will help solve the theft of an ingredient used in the meth
process were invented by Dave Christianson of the Tanks-A-Lok, Humboldt.

"We did a survey of police chiefs and county sheriff's awhile back," Van
Haaften said, "and what was interesting, 90 percent said you got to do
something to control the precursors. So we took that to heart. We actually
went through Sen. (Tom) Harkin's (D-Iowa) office and we found that we could
get a federal grant. We applied in 2002 and received funds and locks in 2003."

The locks, according to Van Haaften, are relatively cheap to buy at $45
each, made in Iowa, are entirely funded by federal grants and are
distributed locally through county sheriffs' offices.

Van Haaften said the locks have proven to be effective. Distributed to 26
counties in central and south central Iowa in 2003, the results have been
tremendous.

"We did a survey last year of the 26 counties about the amount of ammonia
stolen (since the locks were installed)," Van Haaften said. "We heard from
the sheriffs that thefts ended immediately. Thefts went from three to four
a week to zero. So we knew we were having an effect."

According to the ODCP, the counties with locks saw a 5 percent decrease in
the number of new methamphetamine labs seized in 2004. All other counties
in the state had an average 112 percent increase.

"The success, and thus the necessity of this program speaks for itself,"
Harkin said in a statement. "We have a serious problem in Iowa when it
comes to meth, and we have to use all the tools at our disposal to address
it. While the Tanks-A-Lok program is not a silver bullet, it is a vital
part or strategy to win this fight against meth."

But the tanks are not the be-all, end-all to Iowa's methamphetamine
problem. Currently, only 26 of Iowa's 99 counties have locks. And while
another 47 counties are scheduled to be included in the program in the
coming months, including Lee County, they do not have their locks yet.

Additionally, Van Haaften said some meth cookers are beginning to use red
phosphorous instead of anhydrous ammonia in the production process. Those
numbers, however, are relatively low. Of the 1,472 methamphetamine labs
seized in the state of Iowa in 2004, only 40 used red phosphorous, as
indicated by the office of drug control.

Even if the locks were distributed to all 99 Iowa counties, they alone
would not stop the production of methamphetamine in the state.

"We know the locks are working," Van Haaften said, "because we caught a guy
in Marion County who told us that he bought a 100-gallon tank and drove to
a farming co-op in Missouri. That is good evidence again that locking up
the tanks was driving the crooks out of the state."

According to Van Haaften, the ODCP received a $200,000 federal grant in
2003 and a $300,000 grant in 2005 to purchase locks for the program. (The
ODCP has also applied for another $300,000 grant for 2006.)

The ODCP then asked the county sheriff's offices around the state to
identify the anhydrous ammonia tank owners in their county and to ask them
to participate in the program.

Those that are willing (Van Haaften said that only two "grumpy old guys"
have declined to participate in the program) have the locks installed on
their tanks by C & K Manufacturing Inc., a company in Hardy that makes the
locks.

Lee County Sheriff's Deputy Stacy Weber said local interest in the program
has been great, and no "grumpy old guys" have declined to participate.

"Basically," Weber said, "I got a hold of all of the anhydrous ammonia
tanks dealers in the area and got the number of tanks. They were all
interested in the locks. They were getting tired of the anhydrous thefts.
We secured almost 300 locks for every tank in the county."

According to Weber, the locks are a step in the right direction in helping
curb the epidemic.

"My estimate would be low," Weber said, "but I would guess there is some
(anhydrous) stolen every night. From what I've heard from dealers, farmers
are looking forward to having some sort of security on the tanks. It's
impossible for us to guard every tank in the field. With these locks,
they'll be able to secure it."

Van Haaften said the program is achieving positive results.

"We are the first state in America to do something like this," Van Haaften
said. "If you just take the 5 percent (decrease) that participating
counties saw and increase (meth production) in those counties as much as
counties without the locks did, you are talking over 2,000 more labs. That
means we have 200 to 300 more kids not getting second-hand exposure. Plus
when you have fewer meth labs, you free up law enforcement to do other
things that they are required to do."

Like fighting other ways that drugs get into the state, Weber said.

"We're at a point now," Weber said, "where we're at a high point of (meth)
manufacturing arrests. Hopefully, there will be a slowdown with these locks
so we can concentrate on "pipeline dope," marijuana, crack and
methamphetamine, that comes here from other places. Currently, 95 percent
of our day is methamphetamine. If the locks work, we could take care of
some of these other people."

Lee County is scheduled to get the locks in the next two months.