Pubdate: Tue, 19 Dec 2000
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Sacramento Bee
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Author : Michael Doyle, Bee Washington Bureau

ASSISTANCE COMING IN METH WAR - VALLEY IS GETTING NEW FEDERAL FUNDS

WASHINGTON -- The San Joaquin Valley will be getting new federal funding to 
fight methamphetamine, while the country will be getting a new drug czar to 
oversee the efforts.

A massive end-of-year spending package expected to be signed by President 
Clinton this week includes $500,000 for the anti-meth efforts undertaken by 
the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. The money is relatively open-ended, 
but could target either the production or distribution end of the illegal 
speed business.

"I would hope they use it in conjunction with ongoing (anti-meth) 
programs," Rep. Cal Dooley, D-Hanford, said Monday. "This is important, 
because the San Joaquin Valley remains one of the primary production areas 
for methamphetamine."

The Fresno County funds, moreover, are only part of the boost being given 
the nation's meth-fighters. The nation's High Intensity Drug Trafficking 
Area (HIDTA) program is getting an 8 percent budget increase, some of which 
will probably trickle down to the valley as well.

The Central Valley HIDTA, covering the area from Sacramento to Kern 
counties, focuses federal funding and local law enforcement offices on the 
industry thought responsible for producing 80 percent of the nation's 
illegal meth. The Valley project is the only one of 31 HIDTA regions 
nationwide to focus primarily on methamphetamine, although the drug's 
spread has also caught the attention of the Midwest and other regions.

As part of the fiscal 2001 omnibus appropriations bill, finished 2 1/2 
months after the start of the new fiscal year, Congress boosted nationwide 
HIDTA funding to $206 million. The nine-county Valley region currently gets 
$1.5 million of the total, which officials hope will grow to about $2.5 
million with the newly approved funding.

The new anti-meth funding won't be affected by the scheduled Jan. 5 
retirement of Barry McCaffrey, the former four-star Army general who has 
led the Office of National Drug Control Policy since February 1996.

McCaffrey's pending retirement, though, is being closely watched because of 
the larger changes it could portend for the drug czar's office.

High-profile candidates have not yet arisen as possible successors to 
McCaffrey, who characterized meth as "the worst drug that has ever hit 
America."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens