Talent takes fight against meth to Springfield

The anti-meth package, which President Bush signed into law earlier this month, is a nationwide crackdown on the sale of products used in cooking methamphetamine drugs. It also provides new tools to state and local law enforcement and prosecutors, including funding for training, enforcement and clean-up – $99 million a year for five years under the Meth Hot Spots program – and for child services – $20 million in grants in 2006 and 2007 through the Drug Endangered Children rapid response teams.

Pharmacies are required to restrict and record the sale of pseudophedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine, and relocate these products behind the counter. Purchasers are required to show identification and sign a logbook.

The federal legislation is modeled after a law in Oklahoma, where meth lab busts declined 80 percent after a similar state law went into effect there in 2004. Missouri passed anti-meth laws last year, to which Gov. Matt Blunt credits a 44 percent decline in meth incidents statewide.

While in Springfield, Talent was presented with a certificate of appreciation for his efforts by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

“We feel the new law will make a significant impact on the manufacture of methamphetamine in Missouri and throughout the United State,” Sheriff Jack Merritt said in a news release.

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