MERCHANTS TEAM WITH OFFICERS TO FIGHT CRYSTAL METH PROBLEM

ALBERTVILLE - Crystal methamphetamine makers must be on the lookout for
more than police officers and curious neighbors. Now they have take care
when they buy the chemicals to make the drug.

During a press conference Tuesday, Marshall County District Attorney Steve
Marshall announced one of the recommendations of the business committee of
the Marshall County Crystal Meth Task Force. The program, Merchants Against
Meth, will be launched next week. Law enforcement officers, business owners
and chambers of commerce across the county will pass out fliers to inform
merchants of what chemicals and other materials are used in making the drug.

Among the items used in meth manufacturing are ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine taken from cold pills, alcohol that can be taken from
gasoline additives, toulene that comes from brake cleaner and sulfuric acid
that comes from drain cleaner. Other common items that can be used are
salt, lithium batteries, lye, matches and iodine.

Police hope that store owners and clerks will notice who is making large or
repeated purchases of the items and report information, such as that
person's description or tag number, to police. "Some local businesses have
already adopted this program," Marshall said.

"If we could stamp out the precursor chemicals from the retailer end, that
obviously would give the drug makers fewer options," Pat Allen of Mitchell
Grocery said. Allen is also a member of the Albertville City Council.

"We see that as the entry point," Allen said. "If you can't get the
ingredients, you obviously can't make the drug."

"We're trying to stop it at ground level so we can clean up our community
and make it a better place for people to live and businesses to locate
here," Albertville Chamber of Commerce President Brian Murphree said.

Marshall called the crystal methamphetamine problem a public safety issue
because of the danger of fire or contamination from the toxic chemicals
used to make the drug. The DeKalb County Drug Task Force has been using a
similar program and found it successful, he said.

Boaz Chamber of Commerce Executive Director William Osborn said he has
talked to a few people about the program but hasn't presented it to his
chamber members yet. He said no one he has spoken to has expressed any
reservations. "I think that's because there's so much concern about (the
problem)," Osborn said.

Albertville Police Chief Benny Womack said communities across the nation
have meth problems, not just Marshall County. Meth is affecting the
community worse than any drug he has seen in his career, he said.

"I've never seen a problem like this, but I've never seen a community work
together like this," Womack said.