Missouri Lawmaker proposes ban on baking soda

[powers]

Missouri is no California, and the lawmakers seem even more anxious to create a name for themselves with even fewer ideas and direction that those in larger states. In this thread, I will post several ongoing communications I have had about HB 1189, a bill to place restrictions on baking soda sales, much like the current law complicating pseudophedrine to crack down on meth labs.

Apparently, if you have cocaine (an illegal substance) and cook it with a batch of baking soda and water, you can create crack-cocaine (still, illegal). Baking soda is so common that I currently have it in my toothpaste, my litter box, my freezer, and my pantry. If i were more of a cook, I'd probably have another box. Do I have cocaine? Not at all, but I'm glad to know that I'm two- thirds of the way to making crack!

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch presented an article about the bill, including interviews with police and DEA agents that informed me that baking soda could be replaced by several other options to achieve the same desired effect in altering cocaine. Rep. Talbdin El-Amin (D-St. Louis) defends his bill, admitting it "may seem extreme" but feels it will bring attention to a problem. It is, as he puts it, "better than doing nothing." I am not so sure.

I will post my published letter to the editor, which ran last week; Rep. El-Amin's response to the editor, running today; and my personal letter to El-Amin that was sent today. I find it absurd, but feel free to weigh in.

Added note: This representative most recently failed in another bill to have the state of Missouri formally apologize for slavery. County records will show that no one currently alive in the state or associated with state politics owned slaves or fought for the cause in the civil war. Opponents complained that the state should apologize to the Indians for removing them from the land, another case that does not include anyone currently residing in the state, or, dare I say, country. Perhaps I will run for his seat when his term has expired so that actual, constitutional laws that will make the state and region better have a chance to be presented and passed for the good of the region.

[powers]

Fixed Everything Else, on to Baking Soda (April12, 2007)
The bill proposed by state Rep. Talibdin El-Amin, D-St. Louis, that would limit baking soda sales is absurd ("Bill calls for crackdown on sale of... baking soda" April 5). With a product so versatile that it is marketed to be used nearly anywhere in the house, what good is it to spend time and money to track it's users?
The debate doesn't "call attention" to "the crack-cocaine problem" as much as it informs people that they already have most of the ingredients needed to cook the drug. What happened to treating the public as innocent until proven guilty? Isn't possession of cocaine and crack cocaine already a crime? Did our governement fix all the big problems and now only has to worry about imposing huge sanctions on the public to reduce one method of altering an illegal drug? What next, complicating gasoline sales to cut down on drug trafficing and drunk driving? It is time "representatives" actually act in the best interests of thier constituents instead of pushing ridiculous personal ideas to look productive.

Thompson Powers

[powers]

Out-of-the-box thinking (April 16, 2007)

Recently, I introduced House Bill 1189 to place restrictions on the purchase and accounting of sodium bicarbinate - yes, baking soda! The bill's language is similar to a bill that passed a few years ago placing restrictions on the purchase of medicing containing pseudoephedrine to stymie methamphetamine production. Baking soda is a central component in the production of crack cocaine.

The primary intent of this bill is to create a dialogue on drugs, specifically a drug that has ravaged urban communities across the country since the early 1980's. I consider crack cocaine the urban core's silent killer because we don't hear anything relative to the abatement of this drug or dialogue as to its far-reaching and devistating impact on the moral, social and economic fabric of our neighborhood and families.

HB 1189 may seem extreme, but the extreme conditions in our community require action. We are failing in the development of the community's social and moral structure and failing to stop the scourge of drugs, poverty and violence.

This bill may not be the answer. But doing nothing deffinately isn't the answer.

State Rep. Talbdin "TD" El-Amin D-St Louis

[powers]

My letter to Rep. El-Amin (April 16, 2007)

Dear Rep. El-Amin,

In response to your letter to the editor in todays St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I ask why you would try to start a conversation about drugs by cracking down on a substance that is used legally by a much larger percentage of the population. Is there not a way to better crack down upon cocaine, the actual base of crack-cocaine, than to complicate matters for law-abiding citizens?

Last Thursday, the Post-Dispatch printed a letter from myself in response to your bill. I am not sure if you had seen it and wrote in response without addressing any of my points or if the letters were mere coincidences. I would be glad to send you a copy if you had missed it.

I love the constitution of the United States and am disheartened by the laws that are clogging the system which directly go against our founding document. We cannot treat all citizens as criminals. We are innocent until proven guilty. Why waste resources to try and pinpoint who uses too much baking soda? The only solution I can forsee are less baked goods, smellier litter boxes, and dirtier teeth. As the Post-Dispatch pointed out, baking soda is only one of several different, separate ingredients that can alter cocaine into crack. I understand your desire to get the problem out into the open.

I only hope that the rest of your term is not full of limiting road repairs to cut down on high speed chases, monitoring people with higher IQs to prevent criminal masterminds, and banning coffee to prevent jittery hunting accidents. Please work toward solutions to problems instead of treating the whole society as potential criminals.

Sincerely,
Thompson Powers
www.powersandmorrison.com
freelance citizen journalist
Olivette, MO

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