Sioux City Journal, IA
07-05-07
Officials celebrate success of tank locks
By Todd Dorman Journal Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES -- Locks on nearly 24,000 anhydrous ammonia tanks intended to thwart methamphetamine 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 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 5-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."