SCIENCE JOINING BATTLE AGAINST METH

Additive May Make Anhydrous Ammonia Unusable in Drug

An experiment under way at two universities could greatly change the way
methamphetamine proliferation affects the lives of Daviess County residents
and others in rural communities.

Research projects at University of Iowa and Johns Hopkins University are
testing an additive in anhydrous ammonia that would make the popular crop
fertilizer ineffective for meth makers, said Daviess County Sheriff's
Detective Sgt. Jim Acquisto.

Acquisto attended a Clandestine Laboratory Investigators conference in
Kansas City, Mo., where the new form of anhydrous ammonia was discussed
last August, he said.

Because the fertilizer is used with edible crops, the additive must undergo
a battery of testing and is about a year away from being available, he said.

The altered form of the ammonia would disable its use in "Nazi-style" meth
labs, which comprise about 99 percent of meth labs in western Kentucky,
Acquisto said. A Nazi meth lab, termed because of the process implemented
by German soldiers in World War II, uses anhydrous ammonia as a main
ingredient, Acquisto said.

For meth manufacturers, the chemical is crucial to making their product.
Anhydrous ammonia and another substance cause a chemical reaction that
turns pseudoephedrine into methamphetamine, Acquisto said.

The newer form of the ammonia would be a welcome change to farmers and farm
supply companies that have battled the intrusion of thieves onto their
property.

For farmers, anhydrous ammonia is reliable as a cost-efficient and
effective fertilizer, said Mike Saylors, sales manager at Miles Farm Supply
at 1911 Old Calhoun Road.

The company has five large storage tanks of anhydrous ammonia and several
smaller tanks, he said.

At least once a week, employees at the business find valves on the tanks
left open by thieves in the night who sought the liquid, which turns to gas
when released, he said.

The newer ammonia would be a godsend, Saylors said.

"It's a weekly thing; it used to be a nightly thing," he said. "It would
make our lives a lot simpler. It's better for farmers, and that's who we're
concerned about."

Tampered-with tanks of anhydrous ammonia can be extremely dangerous when
valves are left open, Saylors said. The gas is highly volatile and can
blind or kill people who are improperly exposed to it, he said.

Farms on rural property through western Kentucky may have up to four or
five tanks of anhydrous ammonia on the property, and thieves have been
reported approaching tanks in the daytime, Saylors said.

It's uncertain whether the new ammonia would be required for farmers or the
original anhydrous ammonia would still be available. And it's not known how
much the new fertilizer would cost.

Anhydrous ammonia is popular with farmers, because it's $10 to $12 cheaper
per acre than other alternatives, Saylors said.

Uncertainty also exists about how the altered ammonia would affect the
battle against meth proliferation.

The anhydrous ammonia manufacturing method is one of several different ways
to make the drug, Acquisto said. Larger meth labs in the western United
States operate with a different method that doesn't involve anhydrous
ammonia, he said.

Evidence of attempts to manufacture meth without using the ammonia have
turned up in Daviess County, he said.

The Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University has pledged to
develop a new anhydrous ammonia that would have a catalytic inhibitor to
make it environmentally benign, be safe to handle and be inexpensive,
according to the project's Web site.

The additive also would be undetectable and unable to be separated from the
ammonia to further thwart meth makers, the Web site said.

"I think that would be very helpful to us and to farmers," said Kentucky
State Police Lt. Pat Isbill of the Henderson post. "If nothing else, it
would help eliminate the burden on farmers and the public fear."

The newer anhydrous ammonia may not eliminate the meth problem but likely
would slow it down for a while, Isbill said.

"Anything that makes it more difficult for them makes it easier for us."