Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jan 2001
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/man/opinion/letters.html
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Author: Russell Clemings, The Fresno Bee
Note: Staff writer Marc Benjamin contributed to this story.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm Methamphetamine

$50 MILLION TO FIGHT METH

High-powered Officials Will Attend A Summit In Fresno Next Week.

The people in the trenches of the Central Valley's battle against 
methamphetamine said Friday that they were heartened by Gov. Davis' goal to 
spend $50 million to attack California's illegal drug labs.

"It really exceeded our expectations," said Rick Hill, a Fresno County 
sheriff's sergeant and a supervisor for the Central Valley's High Intensity 
Drug Trafficking Area task force.

Bill Ruzzamenti, director of the Central Valley HIDTA, said the state money 
will be particularly helpful to small-town and rural police agencies that 
are underfunded and often overmatched in trying to deal with meth labs and 
sales.

"We are obviously at ground zero in the meth battle here in Fresno," he 
said, "and any resources that we can get will be greatly appreciated."

Drug agents say California's methamphetamine labs account for 80% of the 
nation's meth production under conditions that pose risks to human health 
and the environment.

The $50 million in the 2001 state budget, which must be approved by the 
Legislature, would be divided between $40 million in grants for equipment 
and other law enforcement support and $10.5 million to supplant federal 
funding of the statewide California Methamphetamine Strategy, a coordinated 
effort focusing on the drug.

The $40 million would be targeted at 34 counties where meth production is 
heavy, Assembly Member Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, said Friday in a meeting 
with Fresno Bee editors.

Assembly Member Dean Florez, D-Shafter, said at the meeting that 
methamphetamine enforcement programs would have considerably more money to 
work with than they've had in the recent past.

"This is more in one year than we've done in the last 10 years," Florez said.

Next week, federal and state lawmakers will hold a historic summit in 
Fresno to develop a strategy for attacking the Central Valley's 
methamphetamine problem.

Scheduled to attend the Tuesday gathering are both of California's U.S. 
senators, three San Joaquin Valley congressmen, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, 
state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and numerous officials from federal, 
state and local law enforcement, social services and environmental agencies.

An aide to Rep. Cal Dooley, D-Hanford, said the summit will focus on how 
the federal government can support law enforcement's efforts.

"It's geared toward getting those who are on the front lines of the meth 
battle together to say what they need to fight that battle over the next 
two years," Dooley staff member Adam Kovacevich said.

The summit will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Fresno at the Downtown 
Club, 2120 Kern St., and is open to the public, although no testimony will 
be taken.

Instead, the program will consist of a series of round-table discussions 
that are supposed to focus on specific solutions to the meth problem.

Besides Dooley, Bustamante and Lockyer, the list of scheduled participants 
includes Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both Democrats; Rep. 
Gary Condit, D-Ceres; and Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa.

Hill said 24 meth "super labs" were broken up last year in Fresno County alone.

A super lab can cook 10 pounds of meth or more with a street value of as 
much as $8,000 a pound. The cost to cook 10 pounds is only a few thousand 
dollars, Hill said.

Hill said he has one more wish: "Now that we have the money, maybe we can 
get some legislation that can help us, maybe some sentencing enhancements."

Staff writer Marc Benjamin contributed to this story.
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