COST OF METH MAKING BUSINESS ON THE RISE

The basic rules of economics apply everywhere. Even in the business
of selling illegal drugs. The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force has
noticed that $100 doesn't go quite as far as it used to.

For months, a task force representative says, the street price for
methamphetamine has been increasing, a trend officials say can be
attributed to increased difficulty in producing methamphetamine in
homemade labs.

One hundred dollars will buy seven-tenths of a gram these days,
according to Brenda Cone, a sergeant on the Missouri State Highway
Patrol and member of the drug task force.

"It was always $100 for a gram as long as I can remember," she said.

Cone and other law enforcement officials suggest that so-called
mom-and-pop meth producers are finding it harder to get their hands
on pseudoephedrine, a key meth ingredient. Until last week, it could
be found in some over-the-counter allergy drugs.

A bill that was recently signed into law requires that all such
allergy drugs are kept behind the pharmacy counter. Purchase requires
that consumers provide photo identification. Pharmacists collect the
customer's name and address, which can be reviewed by law enforcement.

But Cone said the spike in street costs has been going on for several
months, long before the bill was signed into law.

Legislators say large numbers of pharmacists began putting the
allergy drugs behind the counters before required by the law. Gene
Brockett, pharmacist of Jones Drugs in Jackson, was one of those who
instituted a store policy long ago.

The theory suggests that such policies and long-standing drug
enforcement efforts have reduced the number of local meth labs.
However, as expected, the drug task force has come across more
imported methamphetamine. So while the cost is going up, so is the
quality of the drug.

"It's called 'ice,' and we're going to see a lot more of it," Cone
said. "The purity level has been reported to be more quality, more
pure. It's increasing rapidly, daily."

She said much of the imports come from people who may have relatives
in Texas, California or Arizona.

Still, the change is welcome to drug enforcement officers, who have
for years been busting local labs.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan, who organized the Missouri
Sheriffs Methamphetamine Relief Team (MoSMART), said the
environmental and safety concerns associated with the lab chemicals
have forced law enforcement agencies to spend countless hours and
dollars on processing labs, meaning less time has been spent going
after the dealers.

Jordan said the street price has spiked locally, but not statewide.
He said he hopes it's just a matter of time before the rest of the
state follows suit.

"One of the goals of MoSMART was that we hoped to see the increased
price on the street," Jordan said. "It was a long-term goal. What it
is is an indicator that lets us know that what we're working on is
starting to limit the supply on the street. However, imported drugs
will be there to fill the gap. But if we can limit the labs, it will
allow more time to go after dealers who are in it for monetary reasons."