'SHOPPING' FOR METH GETS HARDER

Clerks at area Target, Kmart and Wal-Mart stores won't let you buy large
quantities of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and lithium batteries.

It's part of a joint effort between police and retailers to limit access to
large quantities of products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

Police say the number of meth labs in western Illinois and the Quad-Cities
is growing, and store employees need to be alert to people buying certain
items in bulk.

Nancy Walsten, co-manager of the Moline Wal-Mart, said store cash registers
block sales of large quantities of any drug that can be used to make meth,
such as pseudoephedrine or ephedrine. ``We've had customers get mad because
it won't let them buy five or six boxes at a time.''

Ms. Walsten said not many people have tried to buy large quantities of the
drugs, but store employees have lists of the targeted items and are watchful
of anything unusual.

``Sometimes we get licenses of cars and turn them over to police,'' she
said. ``In other Wal-Marts, they have busted people because of that. I can't
really say we've had a problem with it in our store.''

Donna Winckler, a manager at the Moline Target, said her store also won't
sell large quantities of certain drugs. ``It's pretty much a set amount,''
she said, but declined to detail the amount.

She said police have provided lists of items to watch out for, including
batteries and certain types of glass bowls. ``We pretty much just track what
they're coming through the lanes with. We don't report it (to police), we
just don't sell it.''

The Moline Kmart store has a similar policy, said Tena Knapp, a store
manager. ``We have a list that we post that clerks look at. Anyone we see
buying large quantities (of items on the list), we get their information
from them.''

Ms. Knapp said the store won't block the sale, but it will give the
information to police. So far, her store hasn't reported anyone, she said.
``We'd let them know we'd contact the police about it.''

Rene Sandoval, director of the Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group,
which makes many of the meth busts in the Quad-Cities area, said he and his
officers regularly get tips from store employees. ``If someone comes in and
exceeds the maximum amount, they'll notify us so we can do an
investigation.''

He said employees also call police if they see someone coming back and
buying a product repeatedly, or if they notice several people buying the
same product at once.

``I think the training they're receiving is definitely a step in the right
direction and is a help to law enforcement,'' he said.

Yvonne Levetzow, a pharmacist with Trinity Medical Center, said most
pseudoephedrine producers can provide packages of 500 or more pills, but
most retailers limit sales to packages with 20 to 30 pills.

She said ephedrine used to be an over-the-counter drug used to keep people
awake, but now is a prescription medication most pharmacies can't get easily
anymore, because it ``doesn't really have a (legitimate) use.''

Ms. Levetzow said meth manufacturers grind up ephedrine and pseudoephedrine,
which are stimulants, and then, through various chemical processes, break
them down into a pure amphetamine form. It takes about 500 pills to make one
gram of meth, she said.

Some amphetamine-based drugs, such as Ritalin and Aderhol, are legal drugs
used to treat attention-deficit disorder. The stimulants have an opposite
effect on people with ADD, helping them focus and slow down, Ms. Levetzow
said.

Methamphetamine is a purer, more dangerous amphetamine for recreational
purposes, she said. ``Because these are home-brewed, you don't know the
purity of them. There could be toxic substances in there, depending on the
skill level of the person making it.''

While local stores are working with police to limit availability of the
drugs and other meth-making supplies, the Indiana House of Representatives
recently passed a bill that gives retailers immunity if they make a
``good-faith'' effort to report bulk sales of supplies used in making meth.

``I haven't seen any legislation like that in the (Illinois) House, but that
doesn't mean, sometime down the line, we won't consider it,'' said Illinois
state Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline. First, he said, he wants to see how
it works in Indiana.

State Sen. Denny Jacobs, D-East Moline, said legislators could pass a law
limiting the quantity of a drug or product people could buy, but he's not
sure it would work. ``Then they'd just get 20 people to go around and buy it
at different places.''

Outlawing products that include ephedrine and pseudoephedrine is not a good
idea either, Sen. Jacobs said. ``It's a legal product being misused, and
it's pretty hard to establish rules for something that is legal. I'd say 90
percent of the users are probably legitimate.''

Former state Rep. Joel Brunsvold, D-Milan, thinks it's good for retailers to
work with police, but he's not sure a bill like the one in Indiana will do
much good. ``That becomes an fairness issue for the retailers, really,'' he
said.

``It is good to be in control of some of these products, but it's a lot like
the bootlegging of liquor in the 1920s. People are still going to be
stealing the products they need.''