Pubdate: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 Source: Press-Register (Mobile, AL) Copyright: 2008 Mobile Register Contact: http://www.al.com/contactus/ Website: http://www.al.com/mobileregister/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/269 Author: Brendan Kirby Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH LABS SURGE BACK Three years after a new law provoked a steep drop in the manufacture of methamphetamine in Mobile and Baldwin counties, the local labs are making a comeback, according to statistics and law enforcement officials. A state law that took effect in October 2005 limits the purchase of medications containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, key ingredients in the production of meth. Without those over-the-counter pills, authorities said, meth cooks had trouble amassing the components they need to make the drug. But investigators said meth cooks have begun to figure out how to evade the law. Although stores are required to record the names of people who buy medicine with ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, there is no central database. As a result, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said, pill shoppers discovered they could hop from one store to another and avoid detection. Hundreds of people in Mobile County appear to have bought far more ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products than they are allowed by law. "The meth heads and meth cooks have organized themselves pretty good in doing pill shopping," Cochran said. Methamphetamine lab seizures, which dipped from 48 in Mobile County the year the law took effect in 2005 to 17 in 2006, climbed to 33 last year. Cochran said the Sheriff's Office is running slightly ahead of that pace this year, with 17 meth lab busts through the first half of 2008. That mirrors a similar statewide trend. Narcotics investigators said the recent increase in homemade meth comes at a time when imported methamphetamine has leveled off after a dramatic spike that filled the void in the months after the law took effect. "The usage seems to have stayed relatively steady," said Capt. Steve Arthur, of the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. "If anything, it's gone down somewhat, but I wouldn't call it significant." Shoppers avoid detection Alabama's law prohibits people from buying more than two packages of drugs containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine at a time and limits them to no more than 6 grams in a 30-day period. The law also mandates that retailers place the products behind the counter or in a locked display case, record all sales on video and make customers produce photo identification and sign a form that includes their printed names and addresses. But Cochran said no one checked to make sure the businesses were complying until his office obtained a two-year, $450,000 federal grant and hired a retired federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to start an inspection program from scratch. Joe Bettner, whose title is methamphetamine reduction coordinator, since has begun training 30 deputies to examine the logs of 94 pharmacies and more than 400 other businesses licensed to sell over-the-counter medication. Bettner said he quickly discovered compliance with the new law was spotty or nonexistent. In some cases, he said, businesses did not even keep the logs. In other cases, employees were lax about preventing customers from making mass purchases. Some logs had illegible names written in ink; on others, customers had signed Mickey Mouse and other obviously bogus names. "On convenience stores, when we first started checking, I could count on one hand the number that were in compliance," he said. Even when the stores did comply, Bettner added, the law provides for no centralized data collection. Most of the chain pharmacies keep electronic records that network at all of their outlets, meaning that a customer who exceeds his limit of Sudafed at a Daphne Walgreens will be stopped if he tries to buy more from a Walgreens in Mobile. But CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and other stores are not linked to one another. "He hits four pharmacies on one corner and no one will ever know - or used to," Bettner said. To try to put an end to that, Bettner has been building a database from the sales logs at every pharmacy, gas station, convenience store and other business that sells ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products. The early results have turned up some 200 names that appear on the lists of multiple pharmacies. In some cases, those customers have bought more than 200 grams of the products over the last six months - more than six times the legal limit. Bettner said most of those "shoppers," as law enforcement have dubbed them, either are tied directly to the manufacture of methamphetamine or have found out that they can sell a $10 box of Sudafed for $40 to $50 on the street. And since no one was checking, they've been getting away with it, he said. "They've been doing it unmolested," he said. "They've been doing it with no problem." Compliance improves Bettner, whose background includes a stint with Drug Enforcement Administration, said compliance among retailers has improved dramatically since the beginning of the year. Authorities so far have not leveled any fines. As a result of the inspections, Bettner said, many non-pharmacy retailers have opted to stop selling pseudoephedrine products. Since the licenses are granted by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, he said, violators risk losing their right to sell not only cold medicine but also alcohol and tobacco. "We are really careful about it, super careful," said Robert Dobbs, the pharmacist at Skyland Discount Drugs on Government Boulevard in Mobile. "It's extra trouble when you do sell it when you've got a person who you know is a legitimate customer." Dobbs said he declines to sell pseudoephedrine medication a couple of times a week, although the number of suspicious people trying to buy has declined. "They don't come in complaining of sinus problems and asking a lot of questions like a normal customer would," he said. "You can just tell. You can't tell 100 percent, but you're very suspicious about it." The Drug Enforcement Administration has named methamphetamine the No. 1 drug threat in Alabama. Highly addictive, meth can cause brain damage, paranoia and psychotic behavior. For a time, imported meth from Mexico largely had supplanted local labs, officials said. Instead of a few ounces made by a local cook, "superlabs" south of the border are capable of producing multiple kilogram quantities of a pure form of the drug known as "ice." Officials said nearly all of the imported meth in Alabama comes by way of Atlanta, a major distribution hub. Wade said dealers flooded the area with cheap "ice" to establish a market and then began gradually raising the price. Methamphetamine now sells for about $100 to $140 a gram, he said. Pill shoppers sometimes take their pay in meth, according to officials. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gloria Bedwell said authorities have noticed a recent decrease in the quality of imported "ice" as dealers have "cut," or diluted, the drug to stretch the supply and boost profit. Wade praised the pseudoephedrine law and said it has had a major impact even though labs appear to be on the rise again. He said the DEA has noticed the increase, with federal agents responding to 13 requests to clean up active labs in southwest Alabama this fiscal year. That is up from nine in all of fiscal year 2007 and the first increase after three consecutive annual declines from the high mark of 61 in fiscal year 2004. The difference, Wade said, is that the more recent labs are producing much smaller quantities - a few grams rather than several ounces. The reason is the manufacturers have to scramble to gather the raw ingredients. "You've got more people working harder to make less," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin