Kennett city government to vote on prescription for pseudoephedrine purchases

KENNETT, Mo. -- Another Southeast Missouri city will consider requiring a prescription for the sale of medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The Kennett City Council recently received information from Bootheel Drug Task Force agents regarding a proposed ordinance that would prohibit the sale of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine without a prescription.

Agents explained to the council the purpose and intended result of the ordinance.

City Attorney Terry McVey noted that all of the products that would be effected by the ordinance have to be purchased from behind the counter.

City councilman Bill Branum asked if medicines currently found on the shelves would be removed due to the passing of the ordinance.

Lt. Tim Trowbridge of the Bootheel Drug Task Force explained to Branum that any medicines currently on the shelves would not be effected by the passing of the ordinance. He added that the agency was only concerned with cold and sinus medicines that contained ephedrine, which were currently only available from behind the counter of a pharmacy.

Trowbridge noted that current pricing would remain in effect, and that the agency had talked to different doctors and cities that have passed a similar ordinance. He explained that his doctor said that a phone call requesting permission to purchase the drug would suffice.

He noted that the ways to manufacture methamphetamine had evolved over the years.

One of the past ways to create the drug used pills, which resulted in only around 15 to 20 cooks in Dunklin County, according to Trowbridge.

He added that the state government began restricting the sell of pills and that the agency had one year with only three labs in the area.

Since then, a new way of cooking meth has came along called "shake 'n' bake," according to Trowbridge.

Trowbridge said that this form of manufacturing the drug has entered the Bootheel region, and that people only need one box of pseudoephedrine to make the drug.

The one box could potentially create $300 to $500 worth of methamphetamine, according to Trowbridge.

"The problem with the easy method is that you don't just have the 20 good cooks in the Bootheel now," Trowbridge said.

"Now we have everybody cooking it."

He explained that the agency discovers labs all the time, every day, and that shoppers come from as far as Little Rock, Ark., to purchase the required over-the-counter pills.

"This is not the answer and I was not sold on it at first," Trowbridge noted. "It is just the first step to doing something."

He added that he understood the proposed process for purchasing such drugs would be a little bit of a hassle for people buying items like Sudafed, but he believed it was a "step forward."

"This takes the policing out of the pharmacists hands," according to Trowbridge. "They can say we don't sell it without a prescription, you will have to go somewhere else. I think it is a good step and a good step forward. It may be a little bit of a hassle, but me and my family are willing to do it."

City councilman Jake Crafton explained that he was "all for anything to combat drugs" because it was a "society killer," but asked if the current system was an important tool to be able to get names.

Trowbridge said that the agency counted calls from pharmacists and that 80 percent were missed because they were taking care of drug issues in another city at the time of the call.

"We are getting some, but not even touching it," Trowbridge said.

Mark McClendon of the Bootheel Drug Task Force noted that the current system created easy cases for the agency, but that the agency was designed to stop the creation of drugs and not to "just make cases and arrest people."

Crafton noted that he was worried about the surrounding towns Piggott, Ark., Senath, Mo., Holcomb, Mo., and others.

McClendon explained that several cities have already passed a similar ordinance. He noted that if Kennett does not pass the ordinance, it would become one of the cities the creators visit to attain the items, "rather than one of the cities that turn them away."

The agency is hoping that, once Kennett passes the ordinance, other cities will follow behind, according to Trowbridge.

He added that Caruthersville, Mo., and Malden, Mo., were both waiting to see the results of the proposal in Kennett before acting on a proposal of their own.

Street commissioner Randy Carter explained that he was on the task force when the decision to place the medicines behind the counter was made. He added that the idea was to have a database that would log and track the individuals purchasing the medicines.

McClendon noted that a lot of the logs are paper logs, which causes the agency to react after the sales have been made and the drugs have, most likely, been disposed of.

He added that Kentucky has a computerized version of tracking sales, and it did not effectively stop the problem.

"We are hoping that this will put a dent in it," McClendon explained.

Mayor Roger Wheeler Sr. noted that he appreciated the input and information and that the council could use the knowledge when considering the proposed ordinance.

The proposed ordinance is scheduled to be voted upon at the next Kennett City Council meeting to be hosted at 7:30 p.m., on Jan. 19.