"War on Meth": Part IV: Law Enforcement
Save Email Print
Bookmark and Share
Updated: 9:12 PM Nov 4, 2009
"War on Meth": Part IV: Law Enforcement
The Bay County Sheriff's Office, the Panama City Police Department, and even the State Fire Marshals Office are hard at work trying to keep Methamphetamine from becoming more rampant in Bay County. The sheriff's office is leading the way statewide in busting meth labs, and that's because sheriff McKeithen and the BADGES task force have declared war.
Posted: 9:12 PM Nov 4, 2009
Reporter: Mark Vaughn
Email Address: mark.vaughn@wjhg.com
width:100 and height: 100 and picwidth: 100 and pciheight: 100
Font Size:

They are using every tool available to get the upper hand in this daily battle and they are hoping it will pay off.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen said, "We're seeing it everyday, sometimes two, three times a day."

The sheriff's office is doing everyday police work to bust meth makers, but now that it's easier to make meth authorities have to be more vigilant to find them.

And that means stopping them before they get started.

Bay County Sheriff’s Office Captain Faith Bell added, “If we have to wait until the lab phase we will, but ideally we don't want to, we want to catch them before it gets to the lab phase because of the dangers of it."

That starts with the new meth check ordinance.

Sheriff Frank McKeithen drafted the ordinance in September, and it was passed by the Bay County commission, Panama City Beach city council, and Panama City commission.

It requires any pharmacy selling pseudoephedrine, or ephedrine products to record who's buying the product in the online meth check database.

Ephedrine is the main ingredient in meth.

McKeithen said, "You can't make meth without ephedrine, and you can't make chocolate milk without chocolate."

By law you can only get 3.6 grams of ephedrine at one time, and a total of 9 grams a month.

And the sheriff is trying to keep abusers from hitting several stores without anyone knowing.

"It's something wrong with this picture when you can buy legal items and make an illegal substance so easily. You can actually buy and steal items to make meth quicker than you can go to a local restaurant and eat dinner,” added McKeithen.

Meth check is only one tool in the war against meth, Sheriff McKeithen says his team is developing new strategies daily, because they know drug abusers and meth cookers will do whatever it takes to keep making meth.

So they have to do whatever it takes to stop them.

"When they come with a way to get around us, we come up with a way to stay one step ahead of them," added Bell.
McKeithen said, "I've been fighting the war on crime for 35 years, and I see we're losing, but you have to win a battle. You might lose the war, but you can still win a battle, but you can't quit."

And they are winning battles.

The Bay County Sheriff's Office and Panama City Police Department created B.A.D.G.E.S., the Bay Area Drug and Gang Enforcement Squad, and it's leading the way statewide to shutting down meth operations with over 70 so far this year.

The meth check ordinance was already used voluntarily by several pharmacies, but there has been some misconception with the program.

In order to purchase any ephedrine product you have to show personal identification and sign for it and that information is recorded and kept in a database.

The change the ordinance requires is that it will be kept electronically so that every pharmacy using the program will be able to automatically know who's reached their limit of the drug and won't sell it to them.

Before pharmacies would have to go to the sheriff's office and physically pull those records.

Headlines - msnbc.com
  • Skyscraper runners take workouts to incredible heights

    Sprinting up 86 flights of stairs of the Empire State Building -- even if it's for a worthy cause -- is not everyone's idea of a good time. Especially when there's an elevator nearby. But tonight, more than 650 participants will take the long way up one of New York's most iconic landmarks at this year's Empire State Building Run-Up.Sprinting up 86 flights of stairs of the Empire State Building -- even if it's for a worthy cause -- is not everyone's idea of a good time. Especially when there's an elevator nearby. But tonight, more than 650 participants will take the long way up one of New York's most iconic landmarks at this year's Empire State Building Run-Up.


  • Tainted wipes destroyed as firm moves forward
    Truckloads of alcohol wipes, tankers of bulk liquids and cartons of chemicals have been hauled to secure landfills and waste disposal centers as a Wisconsin medical products supplier works to recover from a year-long contamination scandal blamed for illness and death.
  • Most docs tell white lies, study finds
    More than half of doctors surveyed told patients an untruth and 20 percent didn't report a medical mistake, new research finds.
  • Heartburn drugs linked to serious infections
    FDA warns that people taking drugs that suppress stomach acid production may be at an increased risk for intestinal bacteria infections.
  • Care to downsize that order? Many want smaller portions

    Study finds that, when offered, many restaurant patrons choose to consume less food and fewer calories. Study finds that, when offered, many restaurant patrons choose to consume less food and fewer calories.


  • Teen pregnancy, abortion rates at record low
    Birth and abortion rates among U.S. teens fell to record lows in 2008 as increased use of contraceptives sent the overall teen pregnancy rate to its lowest level since at least 1972, a study showed on Wednesday.
  • Americans significantly lower trans fat over decade
    Study finds that Americancs have experienced a decline in their blood levels of trans fat, which could mean a decreased risk of heart disease.
  • Inhalable caffeine a cheap buzz, but may have risks

    Critics worry club-goers will use the the 'AeroShot' caffeine device so they can drink until they drop.Move over, coffee and Red Bull. A Harvard professor thinks the next big thing will be people inhaling their caffeine from a lipstick-sized tube. Critics say the novel product is not without its risks.


  • Komen charity under scrutiny for funding, science
    The Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity defines its mission as finding a cure for breast cancer. In recent years, however, it has cut by nearly half the proportion of fund-raising dollars it spends on grants to scientists working to understand the causes and develop effective new treatments for the disease.
  • Paternity questions plague 1 in 10, firm says

    The company that made its name peddling drugstore paternity tests to uncertain parents now says that more than 1 in 10 adults in the U.S. has had reason to ask the question: Who’s your Daddy? Gary Garner finally confirmed he's the real father of Skyler, 14. The company that made its name peddling drugstore paternity tests to uncertain parents now says that more than 1 in 10 adults in the U.S. has had reason to ask the question: Who’s your Daddy? Gary Garner finally confirmed he's the real father of Skyler, 14.