Menu
Use as directed
Both Missouri and Kansas now have laws regulating the sale of pseudoephedrine, one of the common precursors used to manufacture methamphetamine, sending a message to those who would misuse these products -- use as directed, not for unlawful purposes. Officials say keeping tabs on the substance is helping to reduce the number of meth labs, while keeping medicines available for their intended use.
Kansas law's attack on meth production a legacy of Sheriff Matt Samuels
By Michael Glover
Herald-Tribune
Fort Scott, Kan. -- Greenwood County Kansas Sheriff Matt Samuels was only 42 years old when he died in the line of duty. Although tragic, his death sparked legislation that has led to possible decreases in the number of methamphetamine labs in Kansas.
Bruce Adams, senior special agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and current manager of the Southeast Kansas Drug Enforcement Task Force, said that the Matt Samuels Chemical Control Act has helped law enforcement reduce the number of meth labs since its inception earlier this year.
"When it comes to methamphetamine, the law (Samuels) takes the small, dangerous labs out of our community," Adams said during a presentation at the Fort Scott City Commission meeting Tuesday. "It allows us to focus, then, on the importation of the larger amounts of meth."
Under the law, enacted by the Kansas Legislature on April 15, cold and allergy medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine became "Schedule V" controlled substances, according to a statement by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
As "Schedule V" substances, these medications must be kept behind a pharmacy counter and can be sold only by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians. In order to purchase the restricted medications, the customer must be at least 18 years old, show photo identification, and sign a log book.
Certain types of liquid medications, liquid capsules and gel tabs are exempt under the law and are still available for over-the-counter purchase since they're not used in meth manufacture, the statement said.
Sebelius and Attorney General Phill Kline will be releasing a joint statement about the effectiveness of the law in the next few weeks, Adams said.
That report will include statistics and data corroborated from various law enforcement agencies like the KBI and SEK drug task force.
Adams said the task force is currently compiling information and analyzing the data on the impact the law has had on controlling the production of meth labs in Kansas.
The task force's mission is to target middle or higher level drug violators in Bourbon, Allen, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and Neosho counties.
Samuels was shot when he attempted to serve a warrant at a residence in Greenwood County on Jan. 19. There apparently was an active meth lab inside the home.
"The cook killed him, allegedly," Adams said.
Before Samuels' death initiated the legislation, growth of clandestine meth labs and drug trafficking in Kansas and Missouri exploded during the mid 1990s, Adams said.
Law enforcement agencies in Southeast Kansas faced an increasing battle to keep pace. Prior to 1998, 37 meth labs were built in the region per year, on average, compared to 255 produced last year, Adams said.
He said the majority of the drug is imported into the United States by multi-national cartels. The deadly drug is then filtered throughout the Midwest, including Kansas and Missouri.
Samuels' law has been effective in reducing the number of meth labs in rural areas by reducing the availability of key ingredients used to build a lab.
"Those dangerous meth labs with the toxic chemicals that endanger children, and everything else that we've run into, that legislation will help extract those dangerous labs out of our community, so we can focus on the bigger thing -- drug trafficking and importation," Adams said.
New law seems to be having an impact on manufacture of meth in the Midwest
By Steve Moyer
Herald-Tribune
Nevada, Mo. -- In an attempt to reduce the number of methamphetamine labs in Missouri the legislature passed a measure to restrict the sale of over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine.
The law, similar to new legislation in Kansas, requires such medications to be behind the counter and logs are kept on sales of the medicine. Any suspicious activity is supposed to be reported to the authorities for investigation.
According to Vernon County Prosecutor Lynn Ewing III, it is still too early to be sure if the law, which went into effect in August, is having an impact, but he seems have the impression it has reduced some of the local production of methamphetamine.
"I can't quantify it yet, but I have a sense that there are fewer mom and pop meth labs, labs that are usually made by someone using the drug themselves," Ewing said.
Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has worked with other states in an effort to help local officials deal with the problem. "My office coordinated 38 interstate agreements and established a Meth Strike Force to help local prosecutors deal with the overwhelming number of meth cases, particularly in rural Missouri," Nixon said, speaking before the Missouri Highway Patrol in 2004. "But meth remains subject to the laws of supply and demand --the more we disrupt the channels used to supply meth and its precursors the fewer labs we will have to shut down."
Meth is a problem all across the country. but Missouri leads the nation in breaking up meth manufacturing. "Last year, our officers seized 2,725 labs -- an astounding 7.5 labs per day," Nixon said. "This is more than the number busted in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida combined."
Even if there are fewer labs. Ewing isn't certain that translates into less meth available to addicts.
"There may be less local manufacturing but there may be more coming in the completed form, especially from Mexico," Ewing said.
Both Ewing and Nixon see meth as different from other drugs. "We have learned that meth is different from other drugs because it is especially addictive and because its production creates toxic hazards to our citizens and personnel," Nixon said.
"With marijuana there may be 30 or 40 users out of 100 who would become dependent with long-term use," Ewing said. "With meth a user may try it one or two times and nine out of 10 times they are addicted."