Sports: Iola slides past Bluestreaks
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The Weekender Saturday, May 3, 2014
Fewer meth labs belie growing use By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
ty Sheriff Bryan Murphy, said he would ask city council members to propose an ordinance that requires a prescription to purchase cold and allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine at Iola pharmacies. Currently, a 2011 Kansas law limits monthly purchases by one individual to 9 grams. Parsons, Chanute and Fort Scott have the prescription law, which has led to an increase in suspected purchases in Iola. Under the Kansas law pur-
A generation ago, Smurfs were lovable little blue cartoon characters. Today, the name applies to illegal drug suppliers. In their effort to curb drug trafficking and the use of methamphetamine, local law enforcement officers are trying to crack down on its main ingredient, pseudoephedrine. Iola Police Chief Jared Warner, with support of Allen Coun-
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User says it’s easy to find By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Editor’s note: The following is from an interview with an Allen Countian who has been deeply involved with drugs, primarily methamphetamine. The person agreed to an interview on provision of anonymity. “I think if people knew the consequences (of using methamphetamine), they would pay more attention. And that looks like what’s happening with the younger generation. I think they’re better educated about drugs.” “It’s easy to get clean. The hard part is staying clean when
you’re out with your friends. It’s like an alcoholic, if you get away from alcohol you can’t go out to bars with your old buddies.” Meth has been a fact of life in Allen County since the late 1980s. Production came on the local scene when anhydrous ammonia was a prime ingredient. Then, farmers feared their fertilizer tanks would be tapped. Today’s meth basically comes from pseudeophedrine found in allergy and cold medicine. A quarter or half gram of meth usually was “enough for me and my buddies. We’d go to the races and it would last all weekend.” An advantage of the better See USER | Page A6
‘Bake & shake’ setup By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Technology isn’t lost on the manufacture of methamphetamine. The day of “labs” containing all sorts of glass vessels and apparatus are a thing of the past, said Allen County Sheriff Bryan Murphy. “Then, purity level was lucky to be better than 30 or 40 percent,” and detection was a little easier because cumbersome preparation and acquisition of material helped officers uncover those “cooking” the illegal drug. Now, with few local labs, what is made is of much better quality with purity rates of 90 percent
or better. “They call it one-pot, or shake and bake,” because one small container, such as plastic beverage bottle, is used, he said. “All the ingredients are placed in the bottle and agitated.” Too much pressure can result in an explosion, particularly since lithium, an ingredient, turns volatile when it comes in contact with water. “It’s crazy bad,” Murphy said of the brewing process. Iola Chief of Police Jared Warner recalled a bust in east Iola, where a meth cook was interrupted. Several bottles of the complete process were found in the house. Adding anxiety for offiSee LABS | Page A6
Kansas Senate ACA making headway now adopts budget bill ROTARY
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
By JOHN MILBURN Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas senators approved a budget Friday that completes spending for state agencies for 2015, including bonuses for state workers and funds to shrink a waiting list of disabled people needing health services. The 22-18 vote came after Democrats railed against the spending plan and the lingering effects of income tax cuts enacted in 2012 and 2013 that have slowed the growth of state revenues. They pointed to budget projections they requested from legislative staff that showed Kansas facing deficits starting in two years. Sen. Tom Holland, who ran against Republican Gov. Sam Brownback in 2010, said the effort to eliminate income taxes to create economic growth didn’t work, forcing legislators to act in the coming years. “The grand experiment has failed. The lab rat has died. Rigor mortis has set in,” said Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat. Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ty
The grand experiment has failed. The lab rat has died. Rigor mortis has set in. — Sen. Tom Holland, Baldwin City (D)
Masterson, an Andover Republican, negotiated the budget agreement. He said budget profiles have always shown troubles for state spending in future years to varying degrees. “This is all political wind,” Masterson said of the Democrats’ claims. “What we have here is a budget that I believe is balanced. I do believe we have issues we do need to work on.” Kansas expects to spend approximately $14.6 billion in 2015 from all funding sources, including nearly $6 billion in state tax collections. The budget agreement includes more than $360 million for the Department of Corrections for See BUDGET | Page A3
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 132
Linda Sheppard, director of Health Policy for the Kansas Insurance Department, dispelled an urban legend about the Affordable Care Act when she spoke to Iola Rotarians Thursday. Opponents have railed legislation to enact health insurance contained more than 1,000 pages. The total bill does, Sheppard said, but it has 10 components and only one has to do with health insurance. However, she predicted that with ACA “just beginning, it will take a decade to fully implement.” The bill became law March 23, 2010. Enrollment in health insurance began last fall and initial policies took effect Jan. 1. The objective was to provide insurance coverage for people who were unable to purchase it privately because of pre-existing conditions or because they simply couldn’t afford it. With the new law, insurance companies no longer can base their rates on health status. Instead they use one’s age and geography to determine costs. Tax credits are for those making between 100 percent
Linda Sheppard, director of Health Policy for Kansas Insurance Department, speaks during Rotary Thursday. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. That means if a qualifying person’s monthly premium is $400 and the tax credit is $200, the individual pays $200 and the federal government the other $200. For those too poor to qualify for ACA coverage, the alternative was meant to be Medicaid. In Kansas, that shoe didn’t fall. Kansas refused an infusion of federal money that would have covered 100 percent of
“We know what we are but know not what we may be.” — William Shakespeare, playwright 75 Cents
Medicaid costs for three years and 90 percent beyond that. The rationale of Gov. Sam Brownback and legislators was that they couldn’t be sure that federal money would be forthcoming in the years ahead. Medicaid eligibility under ACA would have been from 33 percent of federal poverty level to the 100 percent ACA insurance threshold. See ACA | Page A6
Hi: 83 Lo: 56 Iola, KS