Pubdate: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Copyright: 2005 Charleston Daily Mail Contact: http://www.dailymail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76 Author: George Gannon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH LAW MAY BE WORKING Kanawha Sheriff Says Calls To Hotline And Arrests Are Down A new law that limits the amount of medicine containing pseudoephedrine a consumer can buy apparently is having a chilling effect on the state's burgeoning methamphetamine problem. Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford said he's seen less meth activity in the county. "We've gone from busting three or four labs a day to busting two or three labs a week," said Rutherford, who vowed to address the county's meth problem when he took office earlier this year. The law puts a 9-gram cap on the amount of pseudoephedrine a person can buy in a 30-day period and mandates that the purchaser sign a logbook. Stores that sell cold medicine must also keep the drug behind the counter. Pseudoephedrine is the active ingredient in cold medicine and is a main component of meth. The drug hotline Rutherford established has had fewer calls in recent weeks, and his officers have not found as many clandestine drug labs. About 1,525 tips have been called in since the hotline was activated, and the sheriff's department has found more than 80 labs. He credited the work of his department and other law enforcement agencies, but he added that a major boost to the fight has come from the prosecuting attorney's office. Rutherford isn't worried about the slowdown in calls to the hotline. He believes the active role local police have taken in the fight has truly slowed down production. "In all honesty, I'm hopeful we're making such a big dent in the problem, the people aren't seeing it as much so we're not getting as many tips," he said. Other states are getting even tougher on meth. In Oregon, which currently has a law similar to West Virginia's, a bill has passed the House that would make any medicine containing pseudoephedrine available only with a doctor's prescription. Lawmakers there said the caps and signature requirements weren't hampering addicts. The bill has not been signed into law, but it does have the support of the governor. No one in West Virginia has made overtures in support of similar legislation, but Charleston Police Lt. Chuck Carpenter, who heads up the Metro Drug Unit, said the state's new law wouldn't make the problem disappear overnight. Cooks and addicts are fighting a painful and powerful addiction, and getting a fix is often their only priority. The stigma of having to ask for the medication and signing a piece of paper will have a limited effect. In a process known as "smurfing," bands of cooks will travel from store to store, buying as much product as they can. In an attempt to combat that, police will inspect the logbook signed by cold medicine buyers and if something looks out of line officers will take action, Carpenter said. Despite some flaws, the law seems to be having some impact. Carpenter said his officers are busting fewer labs, and at those labs it seems like they've been finding fewer packages of cold medicines. Labs are also smaller and more mobile and capable of producing less finished product. "These new labs are only producing 2 or 3 grams, and labs we busted earlier this year were producing 8 and 9 grams," Carpenter said. Police have busted an estimated 240 meth labs this year. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin