What's the Matter With Missouri?

Nothing at all, really, unless you count the fact that the Show Me State is set to retake the national lead for the number of Meth labs busted:

Missouri will likely reclaim the dubious distinction this year of being the methamphetamine capital of the United States, according to Missouri Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Ron Replogle.

"We are going to exceed 2,000 (labs) this year," he said Thursday during a session of the Springfield DWI Task Force.

It's possible that number will rank Missouri first in meth labs, displacing current top state Kentucky, Replogle said.

By the end of the year Missouri's lab seizure total will hit 2,100, he said.

As a civil libertarian, I am a staunch advocate for the legalization of most drugs, especially since the drug war has proven to be an expensive boondoggle that has done little to curtail the actual use of narcotics. But I have to draw the line at Methamphetamine. I still wouldn't make criminals out of the unfortunate souls who get hooked on this godawful stuff, but I do agree that production of it should still be illegal.

But it is tough to be an absolutist about any of these things when you read stuff like this:

Replogle spoke to task force members just after a Springfield City Council committee reviewed a proposal to support efforts to make pseudoephedrine tablets available by prescription only in Missouri.

The drug is the main ingredient of methamphetamine.

Replogle said he was involved in fighting meth as illegal labs spread east from California after the federal government removed pseudoephedrine from scheduled drug status in 1976.

As states have adopted more restrictive rules on purchasing the drug over the counter, production has shifted from large-scale labs, he said.

Nowadays, meth cooks use what are known as one-bottle labs that can be used in houses, motel rooms or cars to quickly produce the drug, Replogle said.

Law enforcement officers face hazards when busting labs, which pose environmental and health threats, he said, an increasing number of children related to meth cooks also are threatened with health problems and dysfunctional families.

Replogle said Gov. Jay Nixon has given the Highway Patrol permission to support further restrictions on the sale of pseudoephedrine.

Replogle said he expects intense opposition from drug company lobbyists to restricting the availability of popular cold medicine.

Past drug company efforts have involved warning people their cold medicines will be taken away, he said.

"No, we're not," he said. "We're trying to restrict pseudoephedrine."

Yep, we're all about protecting public health, all right...just so long as it does not interfere with the corporate bottom line.