LAW ENFORCEMENT, MERCHANTS JOIN FORCES

Law enforcement and merchants throughout Marshall County are joining forces
against a prevalent problem in the community - crystal methamphetamine.

The Merchants Against Meth program - the idea of the Marshall County
Methamphetamine Task Force - was kicked off Tuesday with a press conference
at the Albertville City Hall. District Attorney Steven Marshall, who worked
to form the task force, said the purpose of the program is to hit the
manufacturing of the drug where it starts.

"(Meth) is a unique drug in that the chemicals used to manufacture it can be
bought at local retail shops. It can be made in a homemade lab at home. That
makes it not only a law enforcement issue, but also a public safety issue,"
Marshall said.

Through the program, flyers were distributed to local merchants detailing
the chemicals to watch for.

Merchants are encouraged to report anyone buying unusual quantities of those
materials - such as common cold pills containing ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, alcohol, drain cleaner, coffee filters and batteries - to
the authorities.

"We don't expect them to report it every time someone buys these chemicals,
but if someone buys and excessive quantity, then we hope the merchants will
share the information and be our eyes and ears out there," Marshall said.

"We're relying on them to use their common sense. They should have a good
sense of an excessive amount involving these chemicals," he added.

A member of the task force's merchants committee, Pat Allen with Mitchell
Grocery, said by "stamping out" the precursor chemicals used to make the
drug, the merchants and community can put a dent in the drug problem.

"We're not going to stop the problem, but we're giving makers fewer options.
We're hoping to implement this plan next week, and we're hoping it will have
a snowball effect in getting merchants involved," Allen said. "This is not
meant to be a hardship on merchants, and some of them have already notified
law enforcement of people coming in their shops buying a large quantity of
these chemicals."

One local merchant asked to remain anonymous because of the information his
employees have been able to provide law enforcement in regard to the crystal
meth manufacturers.

"It really concerns us. We've already had the opportunity to turn in several
who have bought large amounts of these chemicals," the merchant said. "We're
glad to do what we can to control this problem."

To get the program started, the Methamphetamine Task Force enlisted the help
of local chambers of commerce in identifying the merchants who could help.

"This is a community-wide problem," said Albertville Chamber of Commerce
Director Brian Murphree. "It's eating its way into our community, and if we
can stop it at the ground level, then maybe we can clean up this problem."

Marshall said law enforcement, including local police departments, the
Sheriff's Department and the Drug Enforcement Unit, made 527 drug-related
arrests in 2002 with 354 of those related to methamphetamine.

"There are not enough badges or guns in the county to take care of this
problem. That's why we need merchants and the community to help," said
Sheriff M.E. "Mac" Holcomb.

Boaz Police Chief Terry Davis said, "I've been in law enforcement 26 years,
and we used to think marijuana was the worst drug we'd ever seen. But it's
progressed, and now meth is the worst we've seen in a long time."

"We've never seen a problem this severe, but I've also never seen the
community work together like this (with the task force) to try and stop it,"
said Albertville Police Chief Benny Womack.

Marshall said merchants are asked to be observant of identifying
information, such as driver's license numbers or vehicle tag numbers, of
people purchasing excessive quantities of these chemicals to aid law
enforcement in tracking them down.