MISSOURI TAKING AIM AT DRUG MANUFACTURERS

JEFFERSON CITY -- It currently is a felony in Missouri to sell drugs close
to schools or when children are present. It has not been, however, a felony
to manufacture drugs when young people are near.

State lawmakers are hoping to change that.

A provision contained in a bill pending before Gov. Bob Holden would make
it a felony -- punishable by up to life in prison -- to manufacture drugs
in a home with children or within one-half mile of a school.

The overall bill is designed to crack down on the methamphetamine trade in
Missouri, which is one of the national centers of meth production.

Law enforcement agencies seized 2,725 clandestine meth labs in Missouri
last year -- the highest number in the nation and nearly one out of every
five labs found nationwide.

Specifically, the bill would make it a Class A felony to produce drugs in a
home where a child lives, or within 2,000 feet of a public or private
school, college, university or school bus. The only exception would be for
production of less than five grams of marijuana, which would remain a Class
C felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Carthage Police Chief Dennis Veach, a supporter of the legislation, said
there have been cases where drug manufacturers were producing drugs in
school zones but could not be charged with felonies.

"We thought getting this on the books was kind of a no-brainer," Veach
said. "Meth in particular is so volatile with the vapors and the potential
for an explosion. It can put kids at risk because a lot of time the
chemicals used are thrown in a ditch behind a house or in front of a house."

The meth problem began several decades ago in California, which still has
some of the largest producers and the second-highest number of lab seizures.

It spread east during the past decade or so and has taken root especially
in the Midwest, where rural areas provide cover for small, makeshift labs
that often produce a stinky, rotten-egg smell.

Sen. Gary Nodler, who originally sponsored the provision, said it also has
the backing of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association and the Jasper County
Task Force.

"I really didn't know that it wasn't already illegal. It sure looked like a
major loophole in the law," said Nodler, R-Joplin. "The manufacture of the
drug in a school zone actually seems to me to be a worse offense than
selling the stuff."

Nodler said in the last six months, police discovered meth lab
paraphernalia in a home a block from where the lawmaker lives in an upscale
Joplin neighborhood.

"This problem is not just in the ghetto," Nodler said. "These operations
can exist in any neighborhood in the country."

Nodler's proposal also has received support from the Missouri National
Education Association.

"The association believes this measure will be another step to improve
school safety and the school environment by helping to eliminate the
harmful presence of drug manufacturers and the resulting drug distribution
near our public schools and where out children live," said Otto Fajen, a
lobbyist for the school group.

The overall bill, sponsored by Sen. John Cauthorn, R-Mexico, also targets
the sale of over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine, a
decongestant that is a key ingredient in making methamphetamine.

Under the bill, medicines with pseudoephedrine as the sole active
ingredient would have to be kept behind a counter or within 10 feet of a
cashier, or be tagged with electronic anti-theft devices.

The bill also would make it a felony to release anhydrous ammonia -- a
fertilizer also used in meth production -- into the atmosphere. A release
that caused death or serious physical injury would result in even tougher
criminal penalties.

Meth bill is SB39.