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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Ind. Law - More on "Vigo’s Ephedrine ordinance could be revamped"

On April 17 the ILB quoted from a Terre Haute Trib-Star story about Vigo County's local ordinance on meth ingredients. Today the same Trib-Star reporter, Howard Greninger, writes:

Vigo County law enforcement officers will no longer issue tickets against retailers because a county ordinance aimed at ingredients used to make methamphetamine cannot supersede state law, County Attorney Robert Wright said.

In addition, the county has received a cut in grant funds that helped pay for a computer analysis of required documents from retailers showing who is buying ephedrine products. The result is the county will no longer consistently track that data, said Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel.

Vigo’s 2004 ordinance targets ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, ephedrine hydrochloride, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, pseudoephedrine sulfate and phenylpropanolamine, substances used to make meth.

Vigo County is the only Indiana county with such a local ordinance because it was passed before a state law took effect in 2005.

However, some officials last week voiced concern that the county ordinance has a loophole, as it does not hold sellers responsible.

The ordinance restricts buyers from purchasing more than two packages in seven days; however, buyers have been violating that provision. The county ordinance limits sellers to no more than two packages to a customer, but has no provision for the seller to limit that number in a seven-day period.

State law also has that loophole, Wright said.

“The existing ordinance that we have is a good law,” Wright told the county Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. “The one thing that creates a problem for Vigo County to amend their existing law is that that state law reads that a governmental unit may not adopt an ordinance after Feb. 1, 2005, that is more stringent than” state law. * * *

Wright said county officials would have to seek an amendment in state law.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 24, 2008 09:41 AM
Posted to Indiana Law