A NEW TOOL IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

Gov. Haley Barbour on Thursday signed a bill designed to help curb the
devastation caused by the illegal manufacture and use of methamphetamines.
The new law places restrictions on the sale of cold tablets that contain
pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, identified by an agent of the Mississippi
Bureau of Narcotics as the only active ingredient used by 90 percent of the
clandestine labs in Mississippi that produce crystal meth.

The new law requires retailers to store cold medicines containing either of
these ingredients in locked display cases, behind the counter, within 30
feet of a store cashier or under video surveillance. It also limits the
amount of cold tablets sold to a customer to no more than two packages per
transaction or six grams of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine.

Law enforcement officials, eager to use whatever tools placed at their
disposal to fight the scourge, embraced the effort. Retailers caught making
"backdoor sales" of the tablets by the caseload could face a felony charge,
although an inadvertent violation would be a misdemeanor.

Meth is a highly addictive and potent powder "cooked up" from such common
ingredients as ammonia, lithium from car batteries and pseudoephedrine.
After snorting, eating or injecting the drug, users experience rushes of
energy and euphoria. Meth labs create the potential for explosions and
contamination because of the combustible ingredients used to manufacture it.

We agree that this new law can be a good tool in the fight against one of
society's most prolific problems.