Meth ingredients put out of reach

Meth cooks have made illegitimate livings by hiding their supplies, their labs and chemicals, then selling their products to users.

Missouri has taken a page from the concealment chapter of meth makers' cookbooks, and will begin hiding key ingredients right behind pharmacy counters.

With a few pen strokes, Gov. Matt Blunt Wednesday made it much more difficult for mom-and-pop Missouri meth cooks to make large quantities of meth, limiting the amount of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine people can buy each month. The law also forces customers show a picture ID, be at least 18 years old, sign their names and include an address any time they buy over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine such as Sudafed, which contains the chemical needed to produce the highly addictive drug.

Customers may buy no more than nine grams per month of the powder pill form of the drugs and no more than nine grams per purchase for medicines in the liquid or gel-cap forms. Nine grams is about 12 boxes containing 24 pills each.

The governor spoke briefly in Jackson at the sheriff's department, touting the law as a "drastic" measure needed to control the meth problem in Missouri. The governor, town-hopping his way through the state, was flanked by local government representatives and law enforcement officials.

Missouri has led the nation in meth lab seizures each of the past several years, including 2,788 last year, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Missouri's bill mirrored a law passed in Oklahoma last year. The law resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of methamphetamine seizures in the state. However, the cooks often crossed state lines to purchase pseudoephedrine, law enforcement officials say.

Through April, Missouri law officers reported 1,322 meth lab seizures this year, on pace for a 40 percent increase over last year, said highway patrol Capt. Chris Ricks.

Two years ago, Missouri became the first state to impose retail display restrictions on medicines. The 2003 law required products with pseudoephedrine or ephedrine as the sole active ingredient to be placed behind the checkout counter or within 10 feet and in clear view of the counter; or to be tagged with an electronic anti-theft device.

State Sen. Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau said when the bill was still in its infancy, he sent letters to all the state's pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and he said not one person voiced opposition. Crowell said some pharmacists made it policy to put the pseudoephedrine and ephedrine medicines behind the counter even before it became law.

Gene Brockett, pharmacist at Jones Drug Store in Jackson, was one of those.

"We've been doing that for a year," he said. "I think most stores are already doing that."

That may be true for pharmacies, but not for grocery stores without pharmacists.

Kevin Groves, manager at Country Mart in Jackson, said his counter has quite a few blank spots now that the law is in place. He said five items, generic and name brands included, were removed from the store shelf.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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