RETAILERS' LOBBYIST SUPPORTS MOST OF CITY METH ORDINANCE

A lobbyist for the state's retail merchants, including drug stores,
says he would support widening most provisions of Cookeville's
recently-enacted anti-meth ordinance to make it state law. For more
than a year the Tennessee legislature has been unable to pass an
effective law deterring the production and use of methamphetamine.

And part of that has been because the state Retailers Association did
not support a bill presented in sub-committee by State Sen. Charlotte
Burks of Monterey.

Even now the newly formed "Methwatch Program" set up by the governor's
office, the Tennessee Police Chiefs Association, the Tennessee Retail
Association and the Tennessee Sheriffs Association is an entirely
voluntary program aimed at educating the public rather than curbing
the production of meth and deterring its use.

But according to Russell Palk, the lobbyist for the Tennessee
Retailers Association, the association is ready to get behind a
statewide bill that has some teeth in it.

"We're not opposed to a bill that deals with the meth issue," he told
the Herald Citizen.

"My concern was that the previous bill allowed for city ordinances to
supersede state law," he said.

In addition, last year Palk objected to a requirement in the law that
would place some products behind the counter in stores and ask
customers to sign a register when they purchased certain amounts of
products containing ephedrine, one of the ingredients in the recipe
for illegal meth.

Those concerns at that time apparently persuaded a number of House
Judiciary Committee members to kill the bill that had earlier passed
the state senate.

But a year has gone by and the city ordinances that were passed by
Cookeville, Algood, Baxter and Monterey and some other cities in
Middle Tennessee instead of a state law have proven to be effective
and have been supported by area retailers.

"I'd be happy to support the Cookeville ordinance as a state law,"
Palk said.

"It's working in Cookeville and Crossville. And as long as it doesn't
violate HIPPA (the Health Insurance Privacy Protection Act) and result
in law suits over privacy, I don't see why we couldn't go along with
it."

But Palk did have a few conditions to place on a new statewide law.
Once the law were passed, for example, no city ordinances could be
created that would supersede its authority and retailers wouldn't be
required to put ALL products containing ephedrine behind the counter
in order to restrict access and prevent theft.

For Palk, having a statewide law instead of city-by-city ordinances is
important for retailers.

"It's a logistical matter," he said. "We have retailers who have
stores statewide and a simple computer program needs to be set up that
works for all stores."

And the problem of placing every product that contains ephedrine is
staggering, he said.

"There are over 400 products that contain ephedrine. If they all have
to be put behind the counter, it can't be done. There are too many
burdens already with prescription drugs. Retailers just can't do it.
I'd rather see those items displayed 12-feet away from the counter."

The current Cookeville ordinance requires major ephedrine products to
be displayed either behind the counter, in a locked case or six-feet
away from the counter.

For Sen. Burks the seriousness of the meth problem means the law needs
to put public safety over retailer convenience.

And she has no worries about a privacy issue.

"No one has questioned it so far and we've had such good cooperation
from area merchants who are relieved to see some action being taken
that helps protect them as well as the public," she said.

"I hope our people who see local stores on the alert for meth
producers here will remember to thank store managers for the effort
they're putting forth.

"We've had so many calls from mom-and-pop stores and service stations
and small stores who are grateful for the ordinance," she said.

As Burks continues to work with law enforcers and legislators to find
the money to make incarceration part of the law in order to deter meth
producers, she hopes that the Retailers Association will continue to
see the success of the city ordinance and be able to accommodate it
fully the next time a law is presented in sub-committee.

"Russell Palk is a fine young man (from Putnam County)," she said.
"He's just doing his job ... and doing it very well!"