METH-MAKERS HIT NEARBY STATES FOR INGREDIENTS

OWENSBORO - A pair of Kentuckians looking to get ingredients for
methamphetamine traveled to Atlanta, where they bought nearly 7,000
pills containing pseudo-ephedrine from a wholesaler, court documents
show. Now Dennis B. Cartwright, 51, and Vanessa Lynn Jennings, 25, are
facing charges of criminal attempt to manufacture methamphetamine and
unlawful possession of a methamphetamine precursor.

Police in Kentucky have found that, since stricter laws regulating
meth ingredients were passed, more people are traveling outside the
state to gather ingredients to make the drug that has fueled an
epidemic in rural Western Kentucky.

Sgt. Brock Peterson, supervisor of the Owensboro Police Department's
street crimes unit, said the ability of meth cookers to obtain
pseudoephedrine from nearby states is a significant problem.

"Basically, because other states don't have the methamphetamine
problem we have, they don't know," Peterson said.

Last year, nearly 300 meth labs were seized in Kentucky while 17 labs
were seized in Georgia, according to federal statistics.

Georgia's not the only state where users travel to get ingredients.
"We'll find receipts after transactions where people will make a
circuit through southern Indiana," Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain
said. In 2002, Kentucky legislators passed strict laws regarding the
sale and possession of pseudoephedrine. Buying five packages of cold
medicine at a drug store in Kentucky could lead to felony charges for
the customer and the clerk. Except for pharmacists or distributors,
possession of more than 24 grams of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine was
established as evidence of intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

Indiana is looking at taking similar measures. After that state's
Methamphetamine Abuse Task Force issued a report late last month,
Indiana state Rep. Trent Van Haaften proposed regulating the supply of
over-the-counter cold medicines to crack down on methamphetamine
production. The proposal would require retailers to store cold
medication behind the counter and require purchasers to provide valid
photo identification and sign for the products.

In Tennessee, lawmakers have established "meth watch," a voluntary
program through which retailers are educated about the sale of
products commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine and encouraged
to monitor the sale of those products.

Elizabeth Assey with the Consumer Healthcare Products Association,
which sponsors the national Meth Watch program, said the program was
modeled after one in Kansas and has now expanded to eight states.

"It's really about educating retailers, getting them involved with law
enforcement, and helping the community understand," Assey said.