FIGHTING METH

Missouri law enforcement officials are taking notice of an Oklahoma
law that seems to have curbed the sale of ephedrine, an ingredient in
the drug methamphetamine.

Officials in Southeast Missouri like the law because it is proactive
and works to take the meth-making ingredients out of the hands of
illegal drug makers. And since Missouri is flooded with meth labs,
officials are always looking for ways to curb illegal drug activity.

The Cape Girardeau County sheriff wants the Missouri Legislature to
draft a measure similar to Oklahoma's bill that would require
pharmacies to put products with ephedrine behind the counter and
create a register of customers who purchase such products.

In Oklahoma, the law requires customers who want to buy cold medicine
with ephedrine to sign a register and show identification. Retail
outlets other than pharmacies would have to have a license from the
Drug Enforcement Administration and follow the same rules if they
wished to sell products with ephedrine. Customers who make the
ephedrine purchases have their transaction recorded in a database and
tracked so meth makers can't just hop from one pharmacy to the next to
make purchases.

But even that good idea seems like it has some limitations. There's
been no explanation of how the database might be maintained or by whom.

Already in Missouri, there is a limit to the number of products with
ephedrine a single person can buy and most retail stores and
pharmacies keep ephedrine products either behind a pharmacy counter or
in a locked case.

It's true that Missouri must do something to control its
methamphetamine problem. And while a state registry of customers might
help cut sales of drug-making ingredients, it could also be construed
as Big Brother watching over us.

Any effort to curb the drug-making and drug-selling industry has to be
done with education and community efforts. The idea of a ephedrine
registry needs to be carefully considered before implementation.