Pubdate: Wed, 20 Dec 2000
Source: Spokesman-Review (WA)
Copyright: 2000 Cowles Publishing Company
Contact:  P.O. Box 2160 Spokane, WA 99210
Fax:  (509) 459-5482
Website: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/
Forum: http://cg.zip2.com/spokane/scripts/community.dll?ep=1

DRUG WAR COMING TO A HOME NEAR YOU

Our View: The Methamphetamine Trade Is Bringing Danger, Blight And 
Expense To Our Neighborhoods And Communities.

Doug Floyd - For the editorial board

Spokane -- The bad guys are winning the meth war. They should; they 
have an advantage. Methamphetamine is cheap and easy to make, 
requiring simple equipment, minimal space and common ingredients.

On law enforcement's side, meanwhile, combating this highly addictive 
drug takes costly equipment, specially trained personnel and the 
coordinated effort of various public agencies -- health districts, 
fire departments, law enforcement, environmental agencies -- all of 
which have budget limitations.

Last week, seven people were arrested during raids on two alleged 
meth labs in the Spokane Valley. The action could have been carried 
out a day earlier -- sparing three children an extra day's exposure 
to the hazardous chemicals used in meth -- but local authorities had 
to wait for a special Washington State Patrol response team to arrive 
from Western Washington.

Seizing a meth lab is highly specialized business. The Spokane County 
Sheriff's office has spent nearly $190,000 this year just on 
processing meth labs for evidence. Yet the problem is getting worse.

Last year, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, 
Washington ranked second behind California for the number of meth 
labs seized by police agencies. The state Department of Ecology says 
the number of known meth labs in the state, a mere 54 in all of 1995, 
swelled to 670 in just the first six months of 2000 and could 
approach 1,500 by the time figures for the whole year are tabulated.

Idaho had only 133 reported meth lab seizures in 1999, well below 
Washington's 597, but don't let the numbers fool you. Officials and 
many residents of Coeur d'Alene say meth use and manufacture is 
devastating some of the community's historic close-in neighborhoods.

Residents of Spokane's West Central Neighborhood contend with the 
same thing. Cash-toting meth makers rent houses from absentee 
landlords, then let the properties fall into neglect while attracting 
unsavory visitors and exposing neighbors to safety risks that include 
fires, explosions and chemical contamination.

The cost of equipment, personnel and training to fight this battle 
constitutes, in Spokane County Sheriff's spokesman Dave Reagan's 
words, "a budget buster."

Even if all law enforcement needs were met, however, cases would 
still bog down because the state crime lab for Eastern Washington has 
too few chemists and prosecutors' offices are inadequately staffed.

Those are concerns for state and local budget writers to address. In 
the community, though, it will take a collaborative effort by 
concerned and attentive neighbors willing to speak out, responsive 
code enforcement offices prepared to take action and honorable 
landlords ready to accept responsibility for the destructive impact 
easy rental profits sometimes have on neighborhoods.
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MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer