Winnecke Responds to Davis’s Meth Plan

1. Winnecke
   You been in a position for a quite a few years to take the lead on the meth problen here in Evansville, but you chose not to do anything!!! But now you want to speak up afer Rick has at least acknowledge the problem. Your just like a tipical politians, you tell the voters what they want to hear while running for office but never will follow through.

2. “We must start by educating our youth, schools, and the community at large to the destructive power of meth. We must also focus on giving our police and fire departments the tools they need to tackle the problem and relentlessly pursue the people perpetrating this menace in our neighborhoods.”

   I hate to tell Mr Winnecke but drug education is already taught in schools…it apparently doesn’t work for some people, if your a potential meth user or a current user no amount of education is going to help you quit or not start, if the pictures of people who have been on meth for a year or so (before and after pictures) isn’t enough motivation not to touch the stuff really nothing but taking away the components to make meth is going to stop the epidemic. As far as tools? is there some new meth detector that the police can use to sniff out the labs?, it basically comes down to the citizens to call when they suspect someone is cooking the stuff, short of a fire or the police being called to investigate suspicious behavior or smells, it’s really up to the citizens to report what they see and smell. As with all crime prevention it starts with concerned citizens keeping an eye out for their neighborhoods.

   JMHO

3. So, let me get this straight…

   Davis wants to regulate Meth.

   Winnecke backs off the regulation path for Meth.

   Winnecke thought the workplace smoking issue was a full bore regulation deal.

   Note to self: If this race ends up to be a contest between the Winnecke-Meth smokers vs. the Davis-Chain smokers… I know who wins. But let’s see how that “mandate” works?

4. Fact is what Davis said today about controlling the meth problem was nearly identical to what councilman Dan McGinn said about the same issue at last week’s council meeting. Did Rick sit up watching the late night rerun on WNIN, or did H. Dan Adams provide him with an advanced copy of the meeting minutes?

   • So the consensus is that Democrats can’t spell (see bluebird’s post above), and that both of the candidates for mayor are too dumb to advance positions on meth that have not already been advanced by others.

5. One more thing Mr. Winnecke should include in his plan… Tell the courts and judges to be more aggressive in applying sentencing to meth offenders.

6. Harsher sentencing has been in effect for a decade with respect to manufacturing meth with no results. In fact, we have more labs today than we did 10 years ago. We have suggested putting dye in anhydrous ammonia which would cause it not to be effective in the chemical synthesis turning psuedo into meth. We have had pharmacies take pills off the shelves and put them with the regulated medications. We have told all retailers that all persons must sign a log book when purchasing this medication. What do we have to show for it? Nothing but the time to sign the book, the cost of law enforcement to collect and enter the data into a computer, the cost of prosecuting misdemeanor cases of illegal purchase of pseudo within a 7 day period of time. We have not slowed down the truly epidemic nature of drug use in this community.

   Education can and will always be necessary,but it is a long term solution. Making it only available with a presciption will not change who can get it, it will just add cost to the process and take nearly a year to become law. The fastest and most effective solution in the short term mirrors what Councilman McGinn has suggested and that is the outright ban on pill form Sudafed type products. The ordinance would be tied to a retailers license and penalties would be stiff. The third violation would require revocation of the retailers license. Does any business want to risk going out of business when there are gel caps and liquid alternatives? Retailers could then not have to worry about a log book registry and those businesses who really care (i.e. independent pharmacies who have refused the sale to those whom they suspected of misuse) about our community will have the satisfaction that they are contributing to the betterment of our city.

   Others have suggested that a cook need only to cross that money saving bridge or go to a neighboring county. It is true but we must start somewhere and that place is here in Evansville. Let us be a leader in this area and rid ourselves of the reputation of being a meth city. Hopefully we can convince others to follow suit. One thing is for certain, doing nothing is not an option and I don’t want to see our city sit idly by rotting away like the teeth of the meth addict.

7. Maybe Mr. Winnecke will take our Homestead Tax Credit dollars and fight the meth problem. 🙂

8. I’m with you Lloyd! I like Rwtrax’s comment “telling the courts and judges to be more aggressive”. A “Zero Tolerance” policy—no excuses will let them go free! Davis’ idea puts responsibility in the hands of law abiding citizens. His plan makes us the victim! Who will pay the doctor to write a prescription? Who will supplement the pharmacies additional cost for employees to carry out his plan. Taking over-the-counter meds behind-the-counter, is a silly idea. Did he think this through? Or just spout it out to get attention? What about uninsured Hoosiers? How do we get a prescription? Pay an office visit to our doctor because of the destructive behavior of a drug addict? I won’t even begin the argument of legalizing drugs along with alcohol and nicotine.

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