In Our View

CRACKING DOWN ON METH

Missouri and Kansas legislators have joined with Oklahoma to restrict
access to large quantities of the pill forms of cold and allergy remedies
containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient of methamphetamine.
Pharmacies, retailers and convenience stores are removing such medicines
from their shelves and putting them behind counters. Buyers would be
required to provide photo identification and to sign logs for the purchases.

More than a dozen states and some of the nation's largest retailers,
including Walgreens, Wal-Mart and Target, are hoping that limits on the
availability of such over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines as Sudafed
and Claritin will slow the virtual explosion of meth laboratories.

Let's face it, no one has a real handle on just how many clandestine meth
labs are operating. There are too many mom-and-pop operations, set up in a
garage or basement one day and moved to a different site a week later to
keep law-enforcement officials from, literally, sniffing them out.

Consider that last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration reported
16,000 labs were seized. Missouri and Jasper County have had the dubious
distinctions of being the No. 1 meth havens in the nation. Missouri's
anti-meth plan, crafted at the request of Gov. Matt Blunt, awaits the
governor's expected signature as of this writing.

A similar plan of attack produced spectacular results in neighboring
Oklahoma. Legislators saw an 80 percent drop in meth-lab seizures after the
more restrictive law went into effect. Last November and December, for
instance, only 19 and 20 meth labs, respectively, were closed by authorities.

Missouri and Kansas lawmakers are expecting comparable results as the
supply of pseudoephedrine is choked off to meth makers once laws go into
effect. Meth makers may head for friendlier climes in other states that do
not have such restrictions on purchases of cold and allergy medicines. But
getting the manufacturers out of labs in garages and basements in this
state won't mean that meth is licked. That will come only when users
realize vendors of this illegal stimulant are profiting on their addiction,
accompanying physical problems and bad choices.