ASHCROFT HEARS VIEWS ON METH

Sen. John Ashcroft got new insights on methamphetamine on Monday from a meeting with members of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force in Cape Girardeau.

They started in the parking lot behind police headquarters, said Capt. Steve Strong. A contractor who disposes of hazardous waste was preparing to take away the toxic leftovers from a meth lab at a cost of $5,000, he said.

"When I use a can of starting fuel at home, it's thrown in the trash," Strong said, "but when it comes from a meth lab, we might pay a few hundred dollars to dispose of it because of what federal laws say."

Methamphetamine continues to be a growing problem because it's so easy to make, Ashcroft said.

Except for anhydrous ammonia, all the ingredients can be purchased over the counter.

Law enforcement officers offered particularly good ideas about one ingredient, anhydrous ammonia, Ashcroft said.

Anhydrous ammonia, used by farmers as an inexpensive fertilizer, is stolen frequently from farms, said Perryville County Sheriff Gary Schaff, but one of the biggest sources are farm co-ops.

Undercover police with the SEMO Drug Task Force told Ashcroft that very few security precautions are taken by those who manage the co-ops, even after repeated thefts.

"This sort of thing happens every day of the week," Schaff said, "and most of the time, it isn't even local people doing it. They'll come up here from Arkansas."

Another problem Task Force members mentioned to Ashcroft was the affect of a state Appeals Court decision earlier this year on methamphetamine prosecutions. The Western District Court stated that possession of a combination of meth ingredients, such as starting fluid, sulfuric acid and ephedrine from cold tablets, was not illegal.

The Cape Girardeau County prosecutor's office had dropped several methamphetamine cases after the Appeals Court's decision, Strong said.

Although Ashcroft said he would need to familiarize himself with the Appeals Court case, he stressed that drug crimes need to be treated alike.

"We need to make possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia a crime like possession of other drug paraphernalia," Ashcroft said. "This is something that has been overlooked at the federal level."

New federal legislation aimed at strengthening the fight against methamphetamine is in Congress, Ashcroft said. His "Defeat Meth" bill might incorporate some of the ideas Missouri law enforcement officers have given him.

The senator has met with other law enforcement groups in the state to discuss methamphetamines.

Strong thinks Ashcroft heard the message police and sheriffs were trying to make.

"He seemed very responsive and took notes," Strong said. "Now we'll see what happens."