Richie Shag Conner

Meth's pernicious hold - Opinion

The sentencing of Timmy Ray Shoemaker Jr. and four others in a methamphetamine-making operation is the latest in a series of cases in the region that have shown how widespread and pernicious this drug has become.

One of the most disturbing things about meth is how it has invaded the workplace. Not only are people on the job while under the influence of this stimulant, they are manufacturing it under their employers' roofs. In the operation led by Shoemaker, meth was manufactured at George's Chicken, a poultry processing plant in Edinburg. One of the ingredients, anhydrous ammonia, was stolen from that plant and other poultry plants.

In another recent case, a business owner did the dealing. Richie Hansford "Shag" Conner, owner of Shag's Lumberyard, also in Edinburg, sold drugs to all but one of his own employees, according to court testimony. The figures are staggering: Conner made more than $3.5 million selling meth over three years and more than half a million selling cocaine over the same period.

While local authorities are well aware of meth's ravages -- its damage to the health of users and the devastation to families and communities, their tools to fight it have been inadequate, particularly the difficulty in tracking suspicious sales of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the drug's manufacture that is sold as a common over-the-counter medication, Sudafed. Shoemaker was able to get other people to buy many boxes of Sudafed for his meth-cooking scheme.

Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, plans to re-introduce a bill that failed last year that would institute an electronic monitoring system to track sales of pseudoephedrine by scanning driver's licenses upon purchase. Now, an inadequate handwritten logbook system is used.

Despite obvious privacy concerns over such a system, it may be needed to stem meth's destructive effects.

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