Pubdate: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 Source: Gadsden Times, The (AL) Copyright: 2005 The Gadsden Times Contact: http://www.gadsdentimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1203 Author: Cindy West, Times Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH LAB NUMBERS ARE DECREASING An ephedrine law that went into effect last July has helped lower the number of crystal methamphetamine labs in his area, Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit Director Ricky Phillips said. The bill, co-sponsored by State Rep. Frank McDaniel (D-Albertville), requires that medicines that have ephedrine or pseudoephedrine as their sole active ingredient be sold from behind a counter or locked in a case whether the public cannot get to them without assistance. The law also restricts the amount of the products that can be bought within a certain period. Ephedrine or pseudoephedrine is used in small labs to make crystal meth. Marshall County DEU agents worked about 150 crystal meth labs in Marshall County last year. "We've done 65 or 66 this year," Phillips said. "We've done three since October." About 130 meth labs were discovered by agents in Cherokee and DeKalb counties last year. "It has slacked way off. There were times when they were doing one or two a day. The ephedrine law has made it a lot harder for people to get ahold of ephedrine. It's just too much hassle for them," Phillips said. Another factor in the declining number of meth labs is the amount of ice, the purest form of crystal meth, that is available. "It's just easier to go buy it than it is to try to make it," Phillips said. Agents have made a discovery this year, what is reported to be a new form of crystal meth in a brown liquid form. "They're selling it as liquid meth, and it tests as meth. They say it's a lot stronger than ice or powdered meth," Phillips said. "There might be a lab around, but we haven't been able to verify that." Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents believe the new form of meth is being imported from Mexico, Phillips said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake