« Ind. Courts - More on: "$1.3 million Allen County Courthouse fix OK’d" | Main | Courts - More on "David Jason Stinson found not guilty in football player’s death" »

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Ind. Law - "Despite laws, 'meth has not gone away'"

That is the headline to this story by Sophia Voravong in today's Lafayette Journal Courier. Some quotes:

After a 2005 Indiana law limited how much cold or allergy medicine containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine an individual could buy, law enforcement saw a decline in homegrown meth labs.
Advertisement

Those cold and allergy active ingredients were commonly used to make methamphetamine.

Theft of anhydrous ammonia, another common ingredient for homemade meth, also have dropped as more farmers are locking storage tanks, according to Jerry Holeman, a detective with the Indiana State Police and the Lafayette district's meth suppression officer.

But meth abuse is still a significant concern.

"Like any other law or tactic, people will find a way around it. Meth has not gone away," Holeman said.

"There's smurfing, where people will buy up pills from several different stores.

"And now we're seeing the 'one pot' method, where people are cooking meth and making anhydrous ammonia all at once using Gatorade bottles or pop bottles."

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Indiana is an active drug transportation and distribution area because of Lake Michigan and seven highway systems that run through the state.

Indiana was one of 16 states recently targeted for an educational campaign by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy because it ranks second in the country for meth lab seizures and incidents reported to the Drug Enforcement Agency. * * *

According to data provided by Holeman, Indiana had an all-time high of 1,115 meth lab incidents in 2004. That number dropped to 992 in 2005, likely due to Indiana limiting the sale of allergy and cold medicine.

The law, which took effect on July 1, 2005, prohibits individuals from purchasing more than 100 tablets per week. Customers also must provide photo identification and sign a log book.

Reported meth labs continued to fall in Indiana in 2006 and 2007, with 766 and 820 labs, respectively. But the number rose to 1,059 in 2008.

Through May 31, 586 lab incidents have been reported this year.

"What we're seeing homegrown is mostly rural, for instance in White and Carroll counties," Holeman said. "But in Tippecanoe County, what we're finding is most meth is imported."

Lafayette police Lt. Pat Flannelly, coordinator of the Tippecanoe County Drug Task Force, said most meth that detectives see here was produced in Mexico. But he said the prevalence is not significant compared to other narcotics.

"From my personal observations ... overall there has been a decline," Flannelly said. "Do we still keep a watchful eye for it? Absolutely. If we get information on it, we will always follow it up."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 20, 2009 10:37 AM
Posted to Indiana Law