METH TAX WOULD HELP LAW AGENCIES

As the war against methamphetamine rages in Missouri, law enforcement
agencies across the state continue to struggle for funding to fight
daily battles that occur in their jurisdictions. While there are
success stories in the form of federal dollars, there are still
numerous law enforcement agencies that receive no assistance at all.

Missouri's legislative and executive branches have been very astute in
passing tougher laws pertaining to the production of methamphetamine,
but they have both failed to respond to the problem of finding a
funding source to assist Missouri's law enforcement agencies in the
war against meth and the cost of cleanups at clandestine labs.

My criticism started with the Carnahan administration and continues
with the Holden administration. While the legislature was controlled
by Democrats for the majority of those two administrations, my
Republican colleagues are now in control and have a chance to address
this issue.

As much as I hate the idea of any new tax, I think we are at a
crossroad where we have to explore the possibility of placing a
specific tax on a specific product that is the specific root of the
meth epidemic. To make meth, you have to have ephedrine, a drug found
in numerous over-the-counter sinus medications. An average family buys
only a few boxes of sinus pills a year. People who are producing meth
from these same products will purchase thousands of pills annually.

The state should explore the possibility of imposing a 10-cent fee on
each box of ephedrine-based sinus medication. The revenue generated
from the fee could be collected by the state and distributed directly
through existing state programs to assist with the eradication and
cleanup costs associated with the production of meth.

My family is no exception to sinus problems. We purchase in the
neighborhood of five boxes of over-the-counter sinus medication a
year. Based on my family's annual use of sinus medication, this tax
would cost my family about 50 cents a year. I think most Missourians
would be willing to pay that amount to help rid the state of this
horrific drug and assist in keeping a clean environment as well.

On the other hand, the criminals purchasing large amounts of pills for
illicit use would pay a lot more. What better poetic justice could you
find than to make those who produce illicit meth pay for programs to
aid in their own capture and cleanup costs?

To properly implement a meth tax, it should be implemented at the
wholesale level in the same manner that alcohol and cigarettes are
taxed. By implementing the tax at the wholesale level, it would
prevent the tax from being circumvented by some store owners using a
method known as diversion. This is a method by which some store owners
order huge amounts of ephedrine pills and never put them out on their
store shelves. The pills are instead sold out the back door at a
higher price to illicit manufacturers of meth.

If the tax were implemented at the retail level, the ephedrine product
would still get into the hands of the criminal, and a meth tax would
not be collected.

Legislators need to grab the bull by the horns and be prepared to
close their ears to the pharmaceutical lobbyists who will pour
thousands of dollars into Missouri to protect a sacred cow.

We have the leadership in the House and Senate to get this
done.

Implore our legislative leaders to explore this idea, which I will be
discussing with them in coming weeks.

John Jordan is the Cape Girardeau County sheriff.