CITY WILL DRAFT ORDINANCE ON METH ABUSE

Despite pending questions, the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen has
agreed to draft an ordinance to combat methamphetamine abuse by restricting
some product sales and making property owners more responsible for clean-up
issues. A public hearing will be held on the issue during a special city
board meeting on Aug. 16. The meeting has been called because Aug. 2
election results are not expected to be certified before the board's regular
Aug. 9 meeting.

Mayor Steve Cope said newly elected city officials cannot be sworn into
office until after the results are certified and become official record.

Alderman Troy Bisby had recently asked the board to consider adopting two
ordinances that he deems would strengthen the city's control over
meth-related issues.

He had presented the board with two drafts - one regarding meth lab clean-up
issues and the other focusing on regulating sales of ephedrine,
pseudoephedrine and phenolylpropanolamine which are used in products such as
over-the-counter cold medicines.

The board agreed, at City Attorney Steve Worsham's advice, to combine the
two ordinances into one draft.

The drug lab ordinance Bisby provided would require that property owners be
responsible for site clean-up costs.

Bisby said property owners as landlords would take a more active interest in
whether they rent to meth producers, and the landlords would also be more
aware about debris from illegal labs being on their property.

The other part of the ordinance would regulate amounts of the cold medicine
products sold and require purchasers to show identification and sign
documents when they buy them.

Cope said the city could run into problems by adopting such and ordinances
when its full scope has not been determined by the state government. He
added that the state is attempting to answer those questions soon through
recommendations from the Governor's Task Force on Methamphetamine Abuse.
Cope is a task force member.

Cope said enacting ordinances where state law regarding such issues is
unclear could make it tough for Tullahoma to enforce the measures.

On Monday he referred to the clean-up requirements.

Cope said the city requiring certain cleanup initiatives could be in
conflict because the state has no set standard regarding what the
requirements should be.

However, Worsham said the Legislature has approved a Public Chapter 855 that
outlines what control cities would have over meth-related issues.

"The state law is already there," he said.

Cope referred to the clean-up issues.

"The problem is there is no standard," he said.

Bisby said the city needs to do something because the state has delayed
taking necessary action, and meth abuse has gotten further out of hand. He
added that with no ordinance in place, residents could move into a
contaminated house and have a 9-month-old child playing on carpet
contaminated by methamphetamine related toxic waste.

Bisby said that could be a serious health issue.