Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Contact: Spence Jackson, 573-751-0290
Blunt’s Tough Crime Bill Achieves Immediate Results
Meth incidents down 55 percent in August since comprehensive meth bill passed
JEFFERSON CITY—The passage of legislation sought by Gov. Matt Blunt to keep key ingredients—ephedrine and pseudoephedrine–out of the hands of meth makers has had an immediate impact on meth related incidents in Missouri.
Today, Blunt released numbers from the Missouri Highway Patrol showing a 55 percent decline in the number of meth incidents when comparing August 2004 numbers to August 2005 statistics. This comparison is from the first available reporting since the comprehensive bill went into effect July 2005.
"Curtailing meth activity and closing the source of ingredients are the first serious steps in preventing meth production and today’s numbers marks the most progress made to date in fighting Missouri’s meth epidemic," Blunt said.
According to the Highway Patrol, the new legislation is also assisting in identifying potential meth cooks because pharmacies are now required to maintain purchase logs and make them available for inspection to law enforcement officers.
Missouri Sen. Jim Talent, a leader in the national effort to combat the meth scourge, praised the results of the new state law.
"Methamphetamine is the single worst drug threat I’ve encountered in my nearly 20 years in public life," said U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.). "States like Missouri have taken the initiative to enact strong anti-meth laws that have shown immediate results. I applaud Governor Blunt and Missouri law enforcement for their leadership on this issue.
"Now that we’ve got the meth cooks off balance in Missouri, we should remember they can still get the ingredients they need by crossing the border into states with weaker anti-meth laws. That is why we need to enact a national standard to finally get ahead of the meth cooks. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) and I are pushing legislation, which passed the U.S. Senate, to enact the toughest anti-meth law in the country. Our bill would move products with pseudoephedrine behind the counter nationally so we can get meth out of our neighborhoods and schools."
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