PARKE COUNTY —
It’s been almost a year since Sally Harpold woke up to police officers banging on the door of her rural Parke County home.
She was arrested for unknowingly violating a state law aimed at stopping “mom and pop” meth labs.
Harpold had bought too much cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine, thus putting her on the police radar as a possible maker of methamphetamine. She was handcuffed, booked into the Vermillion County jail and her name and photo were published in a local newspaper, giving her a negative notoriety she says she never deserved.
The national media attention that followed her arrest shed light on a law that many people, including legislators and police officers, have agreed was faulty. Nowhere at any pharmacy or retail store was a sign required to advise customers of the state’s purchase limit for pseudoephedrine products during a seven-day time period.
As of July 1, a state law that requires posting of such signs went into effect. Harpold says, though, that no sign was in place on a recent day when she visited an area pharmacy.
“I would like to see it more enforced than it is,” Harpold told the Tribune-Star on Tuesday, when asked about the state law requiring signs at all pharmacies selling pseudoephedrine (PSE) products.
“What good is it gonna do if they don’t get the signs out?” she asked.
The state law requires information be posted at the point of sale, stating the purchase limit and warning customers of the potential penalty for violating the limit. The information simply can be presented on a sheet of paper, nothing fancy required.
Harpold said she supports a recent local effort by law enforcement to make PSE products available by prescription only.
“If I’m really sick and I need it (PSE), I’d rather get a prescription than be arrested,” Harpold said of the latest tactic by law enforcement aimed at restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine to limit its availability for illegal use.
That aversion to arrest is the voice of experience. Harpold endured handcuffs, a ride to the county jail and the book-in process, and had to be bailed out by her husband, Ted. The public humiliation that followed the events of her early morning arrest July 30, 2009, launched Harpold on a campaign with three goals: to clear her name; to show the public that a mistake had occurred in the legal system; and to prevent such an arrest from happening to anyone else in the future.
She has been a vocal advocate for change in the law. Harpold believes state Sen. Tim Skinner has been trying hard to push for positive legislative changes to combat the state’s meth problem. But as Skinner has found, change is not always easy.
He introduced a senate bill during the 2010 General Assembly that required pharmacists to display a sign at the point of purchase to notify customers of the limit on PSE sales and the penalty for exceeding the limit, directing the seller to point out the sign to customers to warn them of a possible violation.
That bill died without having a hearing in committee. A Republican version of the bill focused more on tracking PSE sales, Skinner said, but the burden of setting up a statewide tracking system drew some objections from law enforcement because of perceived flaws in the system.
A statewide tracking system eventually was approved and became law, Skinner said, but it has not been set up yet by the Indiana State Police. He was able to attach an amendment to that bill, requiring the point-of-sale information about the 3.6-gram limit during a seven-day period.
The tracking law also states that if a sign is not posted alerting consumers to the sales limit, the retailer could be charged with a class-C misdemeanor. The penalty could be upgraded to a class-A misdemeanor on subsequent violations. A class-C misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. A class-A misdemeanor has a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Skinner told the Tribune-Star that it has been a battle getting state legislation enacted to restrict the sale of PSE, which is the only constant ingredient in any recipe for meth.
“The retailers have been instrumental in killing this bill every year because it’s (PSE) a cash cow for them,” Skinner said, referring to the Indiana Retail Council, a group that represents many national chains.
In response, Grant Monihan of the Indiana Retail Council said the group has opposed some legislation in the past, but supported the tracking legislation.
“It’s true to say over the years, we have expressed concern on behind-the-counter sales (of PSE) and its convenience for the customer,” Monihan said, but he noted that Skinner’s original bill this year did not make it through the committee process.
While Monihan said he thinks that Sen. Skinner is “a great guy” to take on the meth issue, he said the council is concerned about the impact of legislation on legitimate customers trying to buy PSE products.
Skinner said he will continue his efforts to get legislation enacted to reduce the illegal meth lab blight on Hoosier society. A summer study committee is being formed to look at the issue, and he said he hopes to be appointed to that group.
As far as Sally Harpold’s situation, Skinner said it has been his regret that her arrest has not been expunged from the public record.
“I’ve not quit on it,” Skinner said. “I’m trying somehow to get these charges to clear off her record.”
Skinner said he believes it is Harpold’s unfortunate experience that ultimately will be responsible for many of the behind the scenes changes in how police investigate and pursue PSE purchasing violations and methamphetamine abuse.
“Nothing happens in the state Legislature overnight,” Skinner said, “so we’re in this for the long haul.”
The senator also commended Sgt. Chris Gallagher of the Terre Haute police for his efforts to get pharmacists to participate in restricted sales of PSE products.
“He’s been a warrior from the beginning,” Skinner said of Gallagher.
“We have a lot of local people who have seen this side of it,” the senator said of the meth epidemic’s effect on the Vigo County community.
Skinner noted that law enforcement knows many crimes, especially burglaries and thefts, are fueled by a meth addict’s desire to get property to sell to for money to buy drugs. Citizens who have no experience with the drug culture don’t see that connection, he said, so they aren’t as quick to grasp the relationship between PSE availability and meth.
Ironically, Harpold regularly deals with people who have been tripped up by meth use. She is employed by the Indiana Department of Correction, and said she feels almost any action to stop meth production and abuse is well directed, if done correctly.
“I work in a prison. I see these meth heads,” Harpold said. “I know what it does to people.”
And she knows what a false assumption based on purchasing too much PSE did to her.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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State senator: Pseudoephedrine legislation has been a battle
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