'PRETTY DRAMATIC'

Meth law seems to be paying off Just three months ago, state narcotics
officers seized 100 methamphetamine labs across Oklahoma. That number
fell to 62 the following month, and last month it dipped again, to
just 29. "I'd say that's pretty dramatic," said Mark Woodward,
spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control.

Dramatic indeed, and Woodward is among those who credit a new state
law. Approved by the Legislature during the most-recent session and
enacted in April, the law makes it more difficult to buy the tablet
form of pseudoephedrine, which is a decongestant found in many cold
medications but also is a main ingredient in making meth.

Tablet form of pseudoephedrine was available at convenience stores and
grocery stores, but now it can only be bought at pharmacies. Customers
must show proper ID, and they can only buy about 12 boxes during any
30-day period unless they have a prescription for more than that. The
law was aimed at meth makers, who have enjoyed booming business in
Oklahoma the past decade as the easy-to-make and highly addictive drug
has soared in popularity. Now it appears at least some manufacturers
are heading elsewhere to get what they need.

Police in Wichita Falls, Texas, say they have seen a significant jump
in the number of Oklahomans coming to town to buy pseudoephedrine
tablets. Last month, an Enid man arrested by Highway Patrol troopers
was accused of having 1,100 pseudoephedrine and ephedrine tablets
purchased in Kansas.

Based on arrests made by his agency's drug task force agents who
patrol the border, Woodward isn't sure there's been a major jump in
out-of-state shopping by meth makers. What he is sure of is that meth
lab seizures have dropped considerably of late. We view that as good
news, regardless of the cause.