METH MAKERS FLOCK HERE FOR INGREDIENTS

End of bulk sales of cold remedies in Oklahoma brings
headaches to Kansas

TOPEKA - Ninety-four times this year, Wichita police have worked cases
in which suspects bought cold medicine that appeared destined for use
in making methamphetamine, an illegal and highly addictive drug.

Many of those buyers crossed the border from Oklahoma to purchase this
easy-to-find item, which since spring has been harder to purchase in
the Sooner State.

Police say the trend started almost immediately after Oklahoma's
Legislature passed a law in April -- considered the toughest in the
country -- to control the misuse of pseudoephedrine, a decongestant
found in Sudafed and similar medicines.

Over-the-counter cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine are
"cooked" in meth labs to make methamphetamine.

"We've seen a tremendous increase. We started seeing the effect
immediately in May," said Wichita police Lt. Alan Prince, a supervisor
on the department's clandestine lab enforcement team.

Across the border, narcotics officers report that meth lab busts have
dropped by more than half.

Based on this success, Kansas officials, including Gov. Kathleen
Sebelius and Attorney General Phill Kline, and Sedgwick County
District Attorney Nola Foulston, are now pushing for a similar law to
make it harder for meth manufacturers to practice their illegal trade.

"It is hard to see any real losers with this law," Foulston
said.

The proposed law would require people who are purchasing cold tablets
to show photo identification and provide their address. A record of
the sale would be kept.

Liquid and gelcap medicines, not suitable for making meth, would still
be available on store shelves without such restrictions.

Kansas currently has no restrictions on the sale of cold tablets
containing pseudoephedrine, although some retail stores have
voluntarily limited the number of boxes on store shelves.

Oklahoma passed its law April 6. Stores without pharmacies were given
30 days to sell their pseudoephedrine back to suppliers. Pharmacies
had 60 days to get their product behind the counter and their logging
procedures in place.

In October, Oregon's governor put a similar measure into effect
through administrative regulations.

Meth lab seizures in Oklahoma dropped from 100 in March to 29 in May,
said Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

"We had not seen a drop in 10 years. That's why this is so
significant," he said.

Of the 94 pill cases Wichita police had worked as of last week, 38
involved people from Oklahoma, resulting in 74 arrests, Prince said.

Kansas counties near the Oklahoma line have been particularly
susceptible to the influx of people seeking pseudoephedrine, law
enforcement officials say.

Buyers tend to hit towns with several large-scale outlets, rather than
small-town stores where they might be more readily recognized as outsiders.

Cowley County, with the towns of Winfield and Arkansas City, had
recorded 44 meth seizures through November, according to the Kansas
Bureau of Investigation. Rural areas outside of town are inviting
places for increasingly mobile meth makers, who often dump their
easily replaced equipment when they've finished.

"Our guys on drug enforcement are constantly finding dump sites,"
Winfield Police Chief Jerry DeVore said. The sites accounted for 33 of
the total seizures.

In less-populated Sumner County, next door to the west, law
enforcement officials have busted only two working labs and made one
equipment seizure so far this year.

"We get a lot of feedback from the public," he said. "In a rural
environment, people take notice of strangers."

The Wichita metropolitan area provides better opportunities to buy
ingredients unnoticed.

Derby police, like their Wichita counterparts, have seen an increasing
number of Oklahoma-related meth busts.

With the Boeing plant next door, Rock Road traffic and the nearby
Kansas Turnpike, "they blend right in," Derby police Lt. Tim Grant
said.

One recent bust netted an Oklahoma parolee who had a coffee grinder
running off his car's cigarette lighter. He used it to grind the pills
on the go, Grant said.

Kansas' meth-fighting efforts rely on education and cooperation of
retailers, in addition to law enforcement.

Retailers are encouraged to keep pseudoephedrine behind the counter or
limit the amount on store shelves, to cut down on shoplifting.

Police coach employees on identifying suspicious activity, which has
resulted in many of the tips to law enforcement agencies.

The pattern has become familiar: A car pulls up to a major retail
store. Two to three people go inside, split up and buy cold medicine
containing pseudoephedrine.

They check out through separate lanes, then return to their car.
Sometimes, store employees are on the phone with police before the car
leaves the parking lot.

"The foot soldiers are the ones living in the community," said T.J.
Ciaffone, chief of the Kansas Retailer Meth Watch Program for the
state Department of Health and Environment.

He recently embarked on a series of meetings in Kansas' southern
border counties, starting in the southwest corner, to raise awareness
of the new Oklahoma law.

Despite the influx of Oklahomans seeking to buy pseudoephedrine, total
meth lab seizures in Kansas are down so far this year.

Law enforcement authorities offer a number of possible reasons -- some
good, some bad: tougher laws, better training of retailers and their
security officers, greater awareness about the dangers of meth labs in
neighborhoods, and failure of officers to fill out the standardized
federal meth lab reports.

But it also could be a drop-off in enforcement, said Kyle Smith,
spokesman for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Because of a string
of tight state budgets, some positions have been left unfilled,
including nine of 31 narcotics vacancies at the KBI, he said.

"We catch a few of them," added Mike Jennings, a prosecutor in the
Sedgwick County district attorney's office.

"But there's no way of knowing how many of them are not caught. We
still have a huge number of labs here," he said.

Jennings was among law enforcement officers from 13 states who met
recently in St. Louis to talk about meth-fighting strategies. The
Oklahoma law was the hot topic, and many state legislatures will
likely debate the issue early next year.

"If all the other states do pass this, and you don't, you're going to
become a magnet for meth cookers," Smith said.

The Oklahoma law drew no organized opposition from pharmacists, but
was opposed by drug manufacturers and distributors.

The president of their trade group, the Consumer Healthcare Products
Association, urged a U.S. House panel last month not to pursue
mandates similar to Oklahoma's.

Linda Suydam instead urged lawmakers to focus on limiting the numbers
of pills sold to customers, strengthening law enforcement and tougher
sentences rather than "half-measures that have a greater impact on
sick kids, caregivers and flu sufferers than on criminals."

ABOUT METH

Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant drug that strongly activates
certain systems in the brain.

It is made in illegal laboratories and has a high potential for abuse
and addiction.

Street methamphetamine is referred to by many names, such as "speed,"
"meth" and "chalk." Methamphetamine hydrochloride, clear chunky
crystals resembling ice, which can be inhaled by smoking, is referred
to as "ice," "crystal," "glass" and "tina."

How it is made

Methamphetamine can be easily manufactured using ingredients purchased
in local stores. Over-the-counter cold medicines containing
pseudoephedrine and other materials are "cooked" in meth labs to make
methamphetamine.

The manufacture of methamphetamine has a severe impact on the
environment. The production of 1 pound of methamphetamine releases
poisonous gas into the atmosphere and creates 5 to 7 pounds of toxic
waste. Many laboratory operators dump the toxic waste down household
drains, in fields and yards, or on rural roads.

Due to the creation of toxic waste at methamphetamine production
sites, many first-response personnel incur injury when dealing with
the hazardous substances. The most common symptoms suffered by those
who raid meth labs are respiratory and eye irritations, headaches,
dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath.

Meth labs can be portable and so are easily dismantled, stored or
moved. This portability helps methamphetamine manufacturers avoid law
enforcement authorities. Meth labs have been found in many different
types of locations, including apartments, hotel rooms, rented storage
spaces, and trucks.

Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse and the U.S. Office of National
Drug Control Policy