STORES LIMIT SALES OF METH INGREDIENT

Stores Told To Eye Buyers Of Possible Meth Supplies

ALLIANCE -- Police believe David A. Gibson wanted 15 boxes of Sudafed.

And when Wal-Mart wouldn't sell him more than two boxes Monday, he wasn't
discouraged.

Police said the company's policy restricting the sales of products
containing pseudoephedrines left the Alliance man and Virginia parolee,
Scotty Frederick of Sebring, one recourse -- shoplifting.

"When we found the bag with the 15 empty boxes in it, we found the receipt
for only two," said Detective Lt. Scott Griffith.

"They shoplifted the rest."

Wal-Mart isn't alone in its policy. Many pharmacies nationwide are limiting
sales of pseudoephedrines, hoping to prevent methamphetamine production.

Gibson and Frederick were arrested Monday night after Alliance police, Stark
County sheriff's deputies, Metropolitan Narcotics Unit officers, Adult
Parole Authority officers and agents with the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration caught them operating a lab at Gibson's garage. Gibson had
been arrested early Sunday when authorities broke up a meth lab at the same
garage.

Out on bond Monday, Gibson had trouble getting the product because of a
Wal-Mart policy limiting sales of pseudoephedrine-containing drugs.
Pseudoephedrine is one ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

"Our local Wal-Mart is very vigilant about that," said Griffith, whose
department had never run across any meth labs until Jan. 30. Since then,
they and the other authorities have found, and busted up, four more. Two of
those were Gibson's, Griffith said.

"As a responsible retailer in the community, we decided we needed to do
something to send a real clear message to drug dealers that we're not going
to be a source" of their products needed to make meth, said Sharon Weber,
spokeswoman for Wal-Mart stores at the company's headquarters in
Bentonville, Ark. "We aren't just businesses in communities. We live in
these communities, we raise our families in these communities. These are our
homes."

Wal-Mart stores limit sales of pseudoephedrine-containing products to six
packs for products containing zero to 1.5 grams of the stuff, and to three
packs for products containing 1.5 to 3 grams, Weber said.

Additionally, computerized cash registers in the checkout lines will state
that the product is "not available for sale" should a fourth package go
through the checkout, she said.

Sam's Club stores do not allow sales of more than two over-the-counter items
per customer.

Jolanda M. Stewart, spokeswoman for Sam's, also headquartered in
Bentonville, said that customers may only buy one package of the
decongestant Claritin D, and that during cold and flu season, signs are
posted in the store to that effect.

Those signs are posted at the local Sam's Club in Jackson Township.

Walgreens also limits the sale at the cash register of products that contain
pseudoephedrine.

"Our registers are programmed to limit the sale of those products to 6
milligrams," said Michael Polzin, spokesman for Walgreens in Chicago. "We
don't limit it according to package; we limit it to total ingredient amount.
Once you scan the product and you reach that limit, the cashier can't scan
any more on that sale."

But not every store has the capability of limiting the amount of
pseudoephedrine electronically at the checkout.

Discount Drug Mart stores ask their employees to be extra watchful "for
empty boxes and unusual quantities of missing products," said Tom Nameth,
director of pharmacy operations at the stores' headquarters in Medina.

The store limits the sale of tablets containing pseudoephedrine to 200 per
sale.

"A general batch of meth takes about 800 tablets," said Griffith, who
confirmed that shoplifting or three more trips to the store may provide a
meth maker with what he needs.

Nameth said the stores' current system is antiquated, but they may be
looking at upgrading their system.

"We may possibly look into it and see if we can limit a scan item per sale.
That's a very good idea. It takes the onus off of our people," he said.