DEA shows meth lab busts down with cold tablets limited

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records released to Gov. Phil Bredesen showed 82 labs seized in May following passage of his Meth-Free Tennessee Act, compared to 134 in May 2004.

“It is very gratifying,” Bredesen said Thursday. “If they had been level I would be a little concerned.”

He said the comparison was “one month. I’m not claiming complete victory.”

The governor said his administration “worked hard with the General Assembly to pass a thoughtful law that strikes the right balance between public safety and consumer convenience.”

The centerpiece of the law Bredesen signed March 30 stopped retailers other than pharmacists from selling cold and sinus tablets that contain pseudoephedrine and gave businesses 30 days to move products from store shelves to the pharmacy.

Pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, is a vital ingredient in the meth-cooking process.

Bredesen said he had not heard any complaints about the restrictions and was “cautiously optimistic the lab-reduction trend will continue.”

In 2004, law enforcement agencies seized 1,574 labs in the Volunteer State — the second-highest lab seizure rate in the nation, behind Missouri, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

Neither the governor’s office nor the DEA could provide monthly counts for January through April.

Cooking the drug creates toxic, sickening vapors. The state has taken hundreds of children from parents who exposed them to so-called meth labs, which also have caused burn injuries and deaths. The state Department of Children’s Services reported that more than 700 children were involved in meth-related investigations in the past six months.

Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Tom Farmer, a narcotics officer who works with the East Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, said Thursday that lab busts were “absolutely” down.

“I don’t have the numbers but we are looking at more than a 50 percent reduction, from the law when it started until right now,” Farmer said.

Tennessee also closed a so-called “personal-use loophole” in criminal law, which allowed meth cooks to get lighter penalties by claiming they manufactured the drug only for themselves.

The law also started an online registry in the Department of Environment and Conservation for properties quarantined due to meth lab contamination. A separate registry is being created at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identifying convicted meth cooks.

The fiscal 2005-06 state budget signed by Bredesen includes nearly $7 million to attack the meth problem in Tennessee through enhanced public-awareness and treatment initiatives.

The governor said he would “need a few more months of seeing where things actually go” before commenting about neighboring states or taking additional steps to slow abuse of the illegal drug.

“I do intend to talk to some of my fellow governors about this,” he said.

Tennessee’s law is modeled after Oklahoma, where pseudoephedrine products were restricted in April 2004. Oklahoma has since had an overall “70 to 80 percent drop” in meth labs seized, said Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

“In some parts of the state it was a 100 percent drop,” Woodward said.

He said there were 10 labs seized in March, compared to 105 in March 2004.

DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said officials at the agency in Washington “applaud states that are taking steps to deal with the meth crisis.”

“There are some signs that laws in some of these states that have taken effect are having a positive impact,” he said. “However, because it such a new law it would not be wise to draw any broad conclusions but we are cautiously optimistic that steps that states are taking will have a negative impact on the meth trade.”

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On The Net:

http://www.methfreetn.org