Forest City Summit
07-11-07
New tank locks thwart meth labs
By TODD DORMAN, For the News-Tribune
DES MOINES - Locks on nearly 24,000 anhydrous ammonia tanks intended to
thwart meth-makers have helped slash the number of homegrown drug labs in
Iowa, state leaders said Tuesday.
Politicians and law officers gathered at the statehouse to celebrate the success
of the tank lock effort, which has now reached all of Iowa's 99 counties. They
even placed a ceremonial lock on an anhydrous tank parked in front of the
Statehouse.
“We are here to celebrate one more success in the fight against substance abuse
in Iowa,” said Lt. Gov. Patty Judge. “Together, we are making a real difference.”
Anhydrous ammonia is a common agricultural fertilizer and a key meth
ingredient. Meth cooks often try to steal the noxious chemical from farm tanks
that are a common sight across rural Iowa.
Since 2002, farmers, agriculture businesses and government leaders have joined
forces to lock up the tanks with the help of $1.1 million in federal grant money.
The final locks were put on tanks in Ida County two weeks ago, officials said.
The locks are part of a three-pronged anti-meth offensive in Iowa.
State lawmakers approved a bill in 2005 putting strict limits on the sale of the
cold drug pseudoephedrine - another meth ingredient. At the same time, Iowa
State University researchers perfected an anhydrous additive that makes the
chemical less useful to meth cooks.
As a result, the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy reports that the number
of meth lab seizures by Iowa law enforcement has dropped nearly 90 percent
since 2004 when the meth lab epidemic peaked.
So far this year, 77 meth labs have been uncovered statewide. That's compared
to 241 during the same period a year ago and 905 during the first six months of
2004.
Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer said the drop in lab seizures has
allowed state agents to focus on interstate drug traffickers who smuggle in much
of the meth used in Iowa.
And Louisa County Sheriff Curt Braby said local law officers face less danger
from volatile meth ingredients. He told the story Tuesday of a meth cooker
arrested while trying to steal anhydrous fertilizer using a five-gallon bucket.
“They asked him why he was using a bucket. He said he planned to throw it on
the officer if he got stopped,” Braby said.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, helped secure funding for the tank lock project.
He's now working to increase funding for what he contends are under-funded
drug treatment programs.
“We have to deal with the demand side,” Harkin said. “The war on meth
continues.”
Todd Dorman can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net