METH LAB BILL SHOULD DO THE TRICK, TROOPER FEELS

CHARLESTON -- The man in the forest green uniform was a familiar sight at
the Capitol.

And when the Senate finally got around to making it tougher for
methamphetamine makers to cook up their illegal stew of drugs, State Police
Lt. Mike Goff was still around.

"I think that will do the trick," Goff mused, after lawmakers hurled major
roadblocks in the path of those operating make-shift labs.

"If not, we'll try something else next year."

Goff is assigned to special operations and part of his duties entail
training officers in detecting and breaking up meth labs, a phenomenon that
has begun to proliferate in West Virginia.

In Kanawha County, for example, Sheriff Mike Rutherford says some 300 such
labs are in evidence.

Goff spent much time at the Capitol, pushing a bill sought by Gov. Joe
Manchin to limit access to ingredients required to produce meth.

Foremost are common cold and sinus medicines -- the brand Sudafed popped up
most frequently -- that contain pseudoephedrine.

What lawmakers agreed to do, as Manchin wanted, is to remove such
medications from easy reach in stores and put them behind counters,
available only through sale by a pharmacist or a pharmacy technician.

All sales require a photo ID, and records must be kept religiously and
turned over to the state.

No one may get more than 9 grams, or three packets, within a 30-day period.
Gel caps are exempt, since the component critical to meth cannot be
isolated in that form.

Lawmakers added a wanton endangerment crime to the overall bill, an idea
pushed early on by Senate Majority Whip Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming.

The final version came over from the House, however, and Bailey seemingly
lost credit for his bid to give first responders -- police and firefighters
- -- an added measure of protection if hurt breaking up a lab.

Bailey didn't mind seeing his proposal copied by the House.

"The thing of it is, it's amazing what you can accomplish if it doesn't
matter who gets credit for it," Bailey said.

For him, it was a simple matter of heeding the advice dished out some years
ago by House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh.

"The main thing is, we have wanton endangerment in the bill," he said.

"You go out and protect these people, and save them from a bad environment.
That's what it's all about. It doesn't matter whose name was on it."