GRELLNER SPEAKS AT TOWN HALL MEETING. Pictured is Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit commander, Jason Grellner, speaking to 27 people who attended a Town Hall Meeting at the SHS theater.

By James B. Bartle
For Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit commander, Jason Grellner, stopping methamphetamine labs are not only his job, but is a personal crusade to stop “the most addictive drug known to man,” as he stated Thursday evening at the Sullivan High School theater during the county “Town Hall Meeting” on a proposed city ordinance that would require pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products to be purchased only through a prescription, and current drug trends in the county.
Grellner gave a very detailed presentation on meth, meth labs and its effects on communities.
Grellner spoke at the meeting on his own time, and was not compensated for his time, just in an effort to see Sullivan adopt the same law as Washington to stop the sale of these products without a prescription.
Grellner commented that, while they can continue to fight meth, fighting meth labs is a dangerous battle not only for law enforcement officers but police, ems, children, property, the environment and residents of nearby labs.
Up until 1976, pseudoephedrine products were banned without a prescription, but the FDA approved the sale of the product over the counter in 1976.
“We would not have to do anything about the 300 different combustible solids in meth production, nothing about the eight different acids. You can’t make the two different meth productions without pseudoephedrine. No pseudoephedrine, no meth labs,” said Grellner.
Grellner touched on a method being used by producers nationwide and a method that is coming into Franklin County where lab cooks are using a plastic soda bottle to make “mini batches” of meth. This method is highly explosive and extremely dangerous.
He stated that, just this week, a meth cook was arrested in Union using this type of method after he parked his vehicle near the Union Police Department and had the ticking hazardous bomb in his vehicle trunk.
“In my 12 years in Franklin County, I’ve talked to thousands of cooks and meth addicts,” said Grellner. “We’re catching one out of every 25 cooks that are cooking meth and are manufacturing 100 times.”
Grellner gave a highlight of meth production nationwide over the years and the number of labs closed in Franklin County. He stated that while laws and changes in meth making products have helped, such as the CHEM program where local businesses report individuals purchasing large numbers of cold pills, acids, and other items needed for meth, the only thing to stop the labs is to require a prescription for pseudoephedrine.
In the country of Mexico, pseudoephedrine became a banned substance on Jan. 1, 2008. According to Grellner, in 2004, Mexico imported some 226 metric tons of pseudoephedrine while in 2008 they imported zero. Seven other Central American countries have also banned the products.
Grellner spoke about the state of Oregon, which requires prescriptions for ephedrine products. Their labs went from 473 labs to just 18 in 2007, the year the law was passed. Of the 18, two were working labs from the present year while the remaining 16 were more than a year old.
Grellner reported that electronic monitoring of pseudoephedrine is also not working. He spoke about “pill smurfing,” where meth cooks will pay college students to purchase pseudoephedrine pills and pay them for the product. In the state of Kentucky, where electronic monitoring is in place, these products sell for $75 a box on the open street; in Franklin County, the street value is $50.
Grellner commented that, in Kentucky, they went from 172 labs to 350 labs after electronic monitoring went in place; it’s not working.
Last year, according to Grellner, meth labs cost the taxpayers nationwide $23.4 billion. He stated that $600 million to $1 billion is generated annually on the sale of pseudoephedrine products; products that treat a runny or stuffy nose.
Grellner provided a graphic video of the children that have been severely burned or fatally injured from meth labs in their homes.
“It’s no choice of the children, no choice of the resident next to a meth lab, for someone to be cooking meth in a nearby home,” said Grellner.
Grellner provided several different products people can take to treat their symptoms other than pseudoephedrine products. He also reiterated the fact that doctors have indicated that they are willing to write a script for a patient who needs these products medically without a visit to the doctor’s office.
Grellner was asked by the Independent News if Washington passing their ordinance and Sullivan, St. Clair and Union considering a similar ordinance was getting the attention of Jefferson City lawmakers.
“We’re getting nationwide and worldwide attention,” said Grellner. “I’ve sent copies of this ordinance to California, New Zealand. We’re getting attention to the problem. Oregon has showed us the way. We have to start here and, hopefully, get the states to adopt the same.”
Lobbyists for the pharmaceutical companies are spending millions of dollars to battle the prescription requirement which has caused political leaders to back away from the issue.
Grellner stated that there were several bills at the state level last year and, while two made it to committee, four others were shot down by committee chairmen.
Twenty-seven people attended the event on Thursday, with only two people outspoken about the possible city ordinance requiring a prescription. One unidentified man seemed to be opposed to the ordinance as it punished good people who use the drug correctly and a woman was opposed as it could create a hardship on those who have to get a prescription from a doctor and the cost of the office visit.
Grellner stated that he appreciated their comments and stated that not only do customers already have to go to the counter to get the product, but they will also save money as there is no tax on prescription medicine. He also commented that most doctors he has talked to will write a script for a year’s supply for customers that actually need the product so a monthly office visit wouldn’t be required. They would have to pick up their script each month.
Grellner also spoke of other drug trends in the county and the increase in children using pain medications at parties and other times. Grellner encouraged parents and grandparents to watch their medications closely.
“I can’t stop heroin. I can’t stop cocaine. There are a lot of different drugs out there; but, with your help, we can stop the devastating effects meth labs have in our county,” said Grellner. “Without pseudoephedrine, you have no meth labs.”
Grellner once again compared pseudoephedrine to a chocolate chip cookie. “You can use a lot of different recipes and products in a chocolate chip cookie but, without the chocolate chip, you don’t have a chocolate chip cookie. The same as with meth; without pseudoephedrine (the chocolate chip), you don’t have meth.”
Mayor J.T. Hardy and aldermen Michael Lohden and Jarrett Dace were in attendance for the meeting.
The Sullivan City Council has not taken any further action on adopting this ordinance at press time.