LOCAL STORES FIGHT METH PROBLEM, PULL COLD MEDICINE

Doing their part to fight the war on drugs, several local businesses have
recently restricted the sale of the over-the-counter cold medication
Sudafed, a key ingredient of methamphetamine. Bi-Lo store manager Steve
Baker said his store has restricted the sale of Sudafed several times, but
decided to restrict it on a permanent basis within the past month.

"Sudafed is a key, high-dollar item in the production of meth," Baker said.
"Over the past month and a half we've seen more of this get stolen than we
have sold, so we decided to make it harder for abusers to get a hold of."

Now, anyone wanting Sudafed at Bi-Lo is directed by a sign to ask for it
specifically at the store's pharmacy. "This is not much of an inconvenience
to our everyday shoppers," Baker said, "but it will stop abusers from
getting Sudafed in high quantities."

He added if a person requesting Sudafed is suspected of buying the product
to make meth, the store's management personnel can decide to sell the
person only one 24-count box, the amount the average consumer would purchase.

Baker said he and other members of the store's management team do not
hesitate to inform local law enforcement officials of customers they
suspect of buying Sudafed or other meth-making products, such as matches
and lye.

The local Kroger store has also taken its Sudafed supplies off the shelf.
This was done over two months ago, a company representative said, due to it
being a product with a high theft rate.

Nestor Stewart of Stewart Pharmacy said his store hasn't sold Sudafed off
the shelf in over a year. "We know what's going on," he said. "We began to
notice when people would buy every box of Sudafed on the shelf, so we
pulled them off and put it back in the pharmacy."

His staff, he said, knows the store's clientele and knows the symptoms of a
person in legitimate need of Sudafed. "We have ways of finding out about
things and we'll really be watching," he said. "Meth is a real serious
problem; a critical issue in our society."

Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny said he thought stores voluntarily
limiting the amount of cold medicine customers can buy was a great idea. He
said there was no good reason he could think of for someone to buy large
quantities of the over-the-counter medications, other than for illegal
purposes of making drugs like meth.

"Methamphetamine activity has gotten out of hand, and by limiting the
amount people can purchase locally is one good way businesses can help,"
said Matheny, noting that legislation is currently in the works which could
make some of the voluntary measures mandatory.

"Businesses want no part of it," Matheny said, adding he knew of one store
which sold the cold medications by the case and later received unwanted
consequences.

"They confiscated the store and auctioned it off," Matheny said.

The sheriff said although he wished the drug problem of Warren County on
nobody, he was pleased and proud the enforcement effort of his department
has resulted in more activity in surrounding counties where places like
Rutherford County have produced several lab finds as of late.

"They're moving out because of the pressure and we're going to continue to
apply that pressure in the future," Matheny said.