Farm Futures, IL
10-10-06
Compound Added To Anhydrous Ammonia Thwarts Meth Makers
Iowa officials unveil "chemical lock" to clamp down on labs making illegal drug
methamphetamine
Rod Swoboda
A new chemical tool to combat illegal production of methamphetamine
nationwide was announced October 9 at a press conference on the steps of the
Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. The announcement took place in front of an
anhydrous ammonia fertilizer nurse tank bearing a STOP METH sign.
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack says Iowa State University researchers have
found that calcium nitrate works as an effective meth inhibitor when added in
prescribed amounts to anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks. "This new method to
help us in the fight against meth will be used in other states in addition to Iowa.
This compound along with other meth-fighting strategies will benefit our nation."
"As co-chair of the House Meth Caucus, I've spoken with lots of experts on the
drug problem," says Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell. "This discovery has
great potential for reducing meth production across the U.S. As a farmer who's
pulled many anhydrous tanks across a field in my day, it's great to learn that this
meth inhibitor, calcium nitrate, is itself a fertilizer. It won't harm the environment
or the nurse tanks or the application equipment."
Good news for farmers too
"We need anhydrous ammonia fertilizer available for corn production," says
Boswell. "Banning or restricting the availability of anhydrous ammonia to farmers
isn't an option. This remarkable work by these ISU chemists in coming up with
this compound is good news for farmers too."
Use of the new inhibitor will be on a voluntary basis for fertilizer dealers in Iowa
beginning this fall. Ag retailers who participate will receive a formula for injecting
calcium nitrate into anhydrous ammonia, as well as signs from the Agribusiness
Association of Iowa to put on the nurse tanks. The signs say STOP METH.
"Drug enforcement agencies and officials in other states have already contacted
us about this new additive, and it will be used in other states in addition to Iowa,"
says Marvin Van Haaften, Iowa's Drug Policy Coordinator and Director of the
Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy.
Added to anhydrous nurse tanks
The ISU research, confirmed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's
forensics lab, found that people who cook meth who use untreated anhydrous
ammonia typically get a 42% yield of pseudoephedrine for conversion to meth.
However, that yield drops to 2% or less when the calcium nitrate inhibitor is
added to the ammonia in a nurse tank.
Anhydrous ammonia is used in one of two primary meth production methods, and
is the method of choice in agricultural states where anhydrous is commonly used
as a fertilizer. In Iowa this year, 93% of the state's 259 meth labs that have been
discovered by law enforcement officers have been the anhydrous ammonia type.
"Despite a 77% drop in Iowa's meth labs, we know meth cooks continue to go to
multiple pharmacies to get enough pseudoephedrine to produce the drug," says
Van Haaften. "There is no silver bullet to totally eliminate meth, but this new
inhibitor will help get us closer."
Proven to work in Iowa tests
"This compound when used as a meth inhibitor has already proven effective in
field tests at three Iowa sites," says Dave Coppess, vice president of Heartland
Co-op in West Des Moines, chairman of the National Ag Retailers Association
and a leader in the Agribusiness Association of Iowa.
He adds, "In each case where we've tested it at fertilizer dealerships or co-ops
where nurse tanks are parked, the meth cooks have abandoned the treated
anhydrous ammonia. They don't fool around trying to steal from the nurse tanks
that have the treated ammonia in them."
In recent years, meth cooks have been breaking into fertilizer dealerships or
stealing anhydrous ammonia from parked nurse tanks in fields-dangerous not
only for the thieves but also for the community. Thieves often can't get the tanks
shut off or they break a valve and a toxic and potentially lethal anhydrous
ammonia cloud develops over the community. Recently in eastern Iowa, 63 head
of cattle died from a nearby tank that was left leaking by thieves in the night.
This was a 6-year research effort
Professor George Kraus is the ISU chemist who led the 6-year research effort to
find a workable compound. "We tested a lot of compounds," says Kraus. "The
chemical reaction between anhydrous ammonia and calcium nitrate also means
more is less. Because the meth cooks who try using more of the treated
anhydrous ammonia to defeat the inhibitor will actually produce even less meth."
Money for the ISU research to develop the meth inhibitor compound came from
federal funds secured by Iowa's two U.S. Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck
Grassley, and on the U.S. House side by Congressman Leonard Boswell.
Harkin, who was present and spoke at the press conference, says this compound
will help. But it isn't the total answer in the battle against the illicit drug
methamphetamine. He pointed out that a large portion of the meth entering Iowa
today is coming from Mexico.
Not total answer, but is big step
"Ten years ago most of the methamphetamine distributed in Iowa was made
here," says Harkin. "Since then other efforts such as Iowa's program to get Iowa
fertilizer dealers to voluntarily install locks on anhydrous tanks, has helped deter
the meth makers. Many fertilizer dealers now use the locks. That helps, but it isn't
the total answer because the thieves cut the locks off. But at least we are making
it harder for them to steal the anhydrous."
"Together with rigorous enforcement efforts, anhydrous ammonia tank locks and
strong regulatory controls on the key meth ingredient—pseudoephedrine—the
calcium nitrate meth inhibitor is one more powerful tool to help cut illegal meth
production," says Harkin. "The message for would-be meth cooks where the
meth inhibitor is used in the anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks is 'Don't Bother.'"