INROADS AGAINST METH ARE BEING MADE

The problem of methamphetamine -- both its production and its use -- continues to spread across Missouri, which already has the distinction of being one of the biggest meth states in the country. Little by little, however, there are inroads that make it more difficult to be in the meth business.

Last week, the prosecutor from Jackson County was in Cape Girardeau to describe that county's efforts to stem meth. Claire McCaskill is the prosecutor in a county that is both urban and rural, with Kansas City on one side and suburbs and farmland on the other. This is an ideal location for meth labs. The rural areas provide locations for meth production that are less likely to be detected, while the city offers a well-populated marketplace for the illegal substance.

One attack on meth in Jackson County has been to target retail stores that sell the products used to make meth. For example, certain chemicals in over-the-counter cold remedies are a part of the meth process. Some stores in Jackson County, an undercover operation discovered, had become bulk suppliers of the ingredients that go into meth. In some cases, store owners or managers steered undercover agents to the right products for meth -- at inflated prices. Several of those store owners and managers have been indicted, and all have been successfully prosecuted.

Another attack on meth in Kansas City has been to conduct educational seminars for landlords in an attempt to alert them to the easily detected signs of a meth lab, including a distinctive odor. This too has been helpful in finding and prosecuting meth producers.

In Southeast Missouri, there are few signs that any retailers have gone into the business of becoming big-time suppliers for meth labs. Indeed, a strong educational effort has had results. Retailers have been very cooperative in alerting authorities when someone buys large quantities of items that are known to be used in making meth. This educational effort has been so successful, in fact, that the meth producers have caught on and are avoiding the checkout lines of retail establishments. What police have seen of late is an increase in shoplifting of those same items.

Cape Girardeau's police chief, Rick Hetzel, says the educational efforts will continue. He plans to offer seminars for landlords here, and for sanitation workers who are likely to come into contact with the trash -- sometimes dangerous -- left by meth labs.

Efforts to stem the production and use of methamphetamine are slow, costly and dangerous. Meth labs are mini-chemical factories, and they are subject to explosions and fires. But knowing how the meth producers operate and what they need to survive is proving to be a good way to thwart their efforts.