Meth Busters

Image from the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Section's website

A recent article in the Indiana Lawyer discusses the Indiana General Assembly's attempts to curb the state's growing methamphetamine problem.  Over the past ten years meth labs found by Indiana law enforcement have increased from 732 in 2002 to 1,726 in 2012.  In 2012, more than 10% of those meth labs were found in two of Indiana's 96 counties: Madison County (96 labs) and Vanderburgh County (81 labs).  The problem is so bad in Madison County that Rodney Cummings, the Madison County prosecutor, states that 35% of his docket is meth related.  

Six new bills addressing meth have been introduced during the 2013 session.  All six target ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, the main ingredients used in manufacturing meth.  Two of the bills would reduce the amount of medication containing these ingredients a person could purchase.  One such bill proposed by Sen. Carlin Yoder, a Republican from Middlebury, would limit each person to 61.2 grams of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine per year, increase criminal penalties for giving these ingredients to someone expressly for manufacturing meth, and prohibit any meth-related criminals from possessing these ingredients without a prescription for seven years.  The four other bills would make ephedrine and pseudoephedrine controlled substances that could only be purchased with a prescription.  In 2005, Oregon took such a step, which has led to a significant drop in meth labs.  Cummins believes that a similar result would occur in Indiana.  One such bill, proposed by Randy Head a Republican from Logansport, would make the two ingredients Schedule III controlled substances.  This bill, however, will not get a hearing this session.  I will continue to track the six proposed bills to see if the Assembly enacts any changes to Indiana's meth laws.    

With an increase in meth manufacturing comes an increase in meth lab explosions.  These explosions cause significant property damage, injuries, and even deaths.  I, along with fellow Monitoring Well authors, Brianna Schroeder and Sean Hirschten, and other attorneys at Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP, assist clients with cleaning up their properties after a tenant's meth lab explodes.  Often there is insurance coverage for these types of cleanups even if the policy contains an exclusion for illegal activities.  The firm also represents environmental consultants that clean up exploded meth labs.  If you are a property owner whose property has been damaged by a tenant's meth lab, please do not hesitate to contact our firm with any questions.  Also, for more information on Indiana's efforts to curb meth abuse, please refer to the Indiana State Police's and the State of Indiana's websites.