State law cracks down on homemade meth, not meth itself

Have you noticed fewer home meth lab explosions in your neighborhood lately? There's a reason for that: A state law requiring cold and allergy pills to be sold behind pharmacy counters has cut home meth making by more than half, officials estimate. But have you noticed your friends strung out on better speed? The law may be responsible for that, too.

In various parts of the state, police report dramatic drops in the number of lab seizures since the law went into effect Aug. 1, and statewide, meth lab busts have decreased to about 10 a month from a pre-law average of nearly 29 a month. Not only does the law make it harder for people to get pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in meth making, but it leads officials more easily to people who are smurfing the pills. And yet the demand for meth is still high, which has led to more imports of the drug from Mexico, including some purer forms that can be smoked (unlike homemade speed). Last month, state and federal officials busted a meth ring that involved dozens of people and stretched from Dallas to central Oklahoma, and a recent seizure in northeast Texas netted $30,000 worth of meth that was likely Mexican-made. So the law's not fixing the whole problem, but it's a start, said State Rep. Leo Berman, who sponsored the pseudoephedrine bill:

"Stopping the labs is a plus for the communities where they're located," said Berman. He said young children are not exposed to the dangers of their parents cooking the drug in their homes. And the labs leave by-products that cost thousands of dollars to clean up, he said.

"We've gotten rid of some of the meth," Berman said, agreeing that imported meth is filling the void. "We still have the addicts."