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| Authorities say meth bill not strong enough |
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3/23/2012
By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer
Local authorities are growing ever more concerned about the spread of methamphetamine after the seizure of three lab operations in the past three weeks.
They say legislation currently before the General Assembly doesn’t go far enough to restrict access to pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making meth.
Earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee approved a compromise bill that would tighten limits on the purchase of some over-the-counter cold and allergy medications. The measure would allow the purchase of 7.2 grams of medications containing pseudophedrine each month for up to 24 grams a year. Greater amounts would require a prescription.
The bill now goes to the full House. It has already been approved by the Senate.
Mt. Sterling Police Chief David Charles said the impact of the legislation would be negligible at best.
“It is a stop gap measure that will satisfy neither side,” Charles said. “The criminals seeking this, will easily circumvent it and I predict it will have little to no effect on the production of methamphetamine.”
Bret Kirkland, a former Kentucky State Police narcotics detective, said the bill might reduce the manufacture of methamphetamine minimally, but drug users will still find a way to get around the restrictions.
“It may drop the meth labs a little bit simply because it’s going to put a wrench in their system ... ,” he said. “The only way to control the problem is to control the drug. Until we do that the meth labs are not going to drop.”
The county’s local legislative delegation, however, both see the bill as a step in the right direction.
State Sen. R.J. Palmer, D-Winchester, said the bill is a reasonable compromise between lawmakers who want the drug available by prescription only and the lobbyists fighting such a proposal.
“To me it seems like a solid compromise,” Palmer said. “I would hope the House would pass it.”
State Rep. Richard Henderson, D-Jeffersonville, agreed.
“It would no doubt help, but we have to get tough on the drug scourge ... ,” Henderson said. “We’ve got to do everything possible to prohibit or make it more difficult for those who use these drugs.
“It’s more than a fair compromise,” he added.
Lobbyists for some pharmaceutical companies object to the legislation because they say it places too many restrictions on pseudoephedrine and will eventually lead to making it prescription only.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association has reportedly spent more than $387,000 in January and February to lobby against the bill, not including funds spent advertising to the public, according to a published report.
Kirkland said legislators gave in to that pressure.
“I’m very, very disappointed,” Kirkland said. “I’m disappointed they’re considering the inconvenience. They’re siding on the side of inconvenience over the safety of the public and safety of police officers.
“It’s inconvenient to fly nowadays, but I would much rather go through the inconvenience that we have in flying than having hijackers and bombers on our planes,” he added.
Palmer, who supported the bill in the Senate, said the argument that the limit set forth in the bill is a hardship is false. He notes that 90 percent of all purchasers use dosages that fall below the proposed limit.
State law currently limits purchases to 9 grams a month or 108 grams a year. Purchasers must also present a photo ID and sign a log.
Speaking in support of the bill, Palmer said the public needs to understand just how easy it is now to make meth using the one-step or “shake and bake” method. The ingredients are often “cooked” in two liter soda bottles, which are later discarded on roadsides presenting a serious danger to those who encounter them, he said.
The key is reducing access to pseudoephedrine.
“The way you do that is to take away the only irreplaceable ingredient—pseudoephedrine,” he said.
Law enforcement, however, say there are ways around the new limit. They say it will only increase the prevalence of “smurfing,” in which people are hired to buy pseudoephedrine either for money or in exchange for drugs.
Many in law enforcement say the closest thing to a solution is to make pseudoephedrine available by prescription only as several other states have already done with a degree of success.
Montgomery County Sheriff Fred Shortridge, who had previously gone to Frankfort in support of such a bill, noted that there are other medications that can be used for colds instead of pseudoephedrine.
“Why are we allowing people to go out and purchase it to make a drug that’s so potent and so damaging?” he asked
Shortridge said it’s hard to gauge how much of the drug is being used to manufacture meth.
The sheriff’s office found that more than 400 people had registered to purchase pseudoephedrine in one month at a local drug store.
“How many actually needed it and how much of that was ‘smurfed,’” Shortridge asked.
Law enforcement say the recent lab seizures illustrate that meth is growing in popularity on local streets in the same way prescription pills slowly emerged as a major problem on the drug scene.
“I think it’s definitely on the upswing locally,” Charles said.
With it will likely come an increase in crime and more arrests, he said.
The statewide trend with meth is also on the rise, Kirkland said. Kentucky was fourth nationally with nearly 1,200 lab seizures last year and the state is on a record-setting pace thus far this year, he said.
In an effort to educate the public about the dangers of meth, the MSPD will host a public forum 7-9 p.m. Thursday, April 12, at the Clay Community Center.
“It’s here and I want people to understand what a meth lab is, how to spot usage among your family and your friends and who to call to get the lab removed or help your friends and family,” Charles said.
Kirkland is expected to give a presentation on the production and use of meth as well as ways to detect it. Charles, Shortridge and Montgom
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