Pubdate: Sun, 20 Nov 2005
Source: Evansville Courier & Press (IN)
Copyright: 2005 The Evansville Courier Company
Contact:  http://www.courierpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/138
Author: Jimmy Nesbitt, Courier & Press staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

LAW MAY BE PUTTING DENT IN INDIANA METH LABS

Between July and October, the number of methamphetamine labs seized 
in Indiana fell 27 percent compared with the same time period last 
year, Indiana State Police say.

Part of the decrease can be attributed to a law that took effect in 
July, which restricts the sale of products containing 
pseudoephedrine, an ingredient used to make meth, police say. The law 
requires customers purchasing the drug to show identification and 
sign a log. State police are supposed to monitor the log to track 
people who buy pseudoephedrine from several different retailers. But 
without a central database that allows the pharmacies and police to 
share information, finding trends can be tough, said detective Tony 
Johnson of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force. The 
number of meth labs seized in Vanderburgh County has decreased, but 
the number of meth-related cases has stayed about the same because of 
the influx of crystal meth, Johnson said.

The task force hasn't made any arrests using information from the 
log, but they are working on a case and expect to issue warrants 
soon. "We'll see how it works," he said.

The state police are seeking grant money to support a central 
database. West Virginia and Oklahoma will soon convert to an 
electronic log that connects the states' retailers, said Steven King, 
Drug and Crime Control Division director for the Indiana Criminal 
Justice Institute in Indianapolis. Indiana has more than 10,000 
retail stores, and creating a database that would link them all 
together would take some time, said Indiana State Police spokesman 
Sgt. Todd Ringle. "It is going to be a difficult task, but that is 
something that we're working on," he said.

The state police are required to report the effectiveness of the 
pseudoephedrine law to the Legislature in 2007. King said the law is 
already making a difference and has led to several arrests at the 
state and local level, he said. Some of the retailers who have 
received training and know what to look for have called police after 
a suspicious transaction, King said. "That's the big part of it - 
just not getting the information but actually doing something with it 
when you get it."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman