Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2003
Source: Gadsden Times, The (AL)
Copyright: 2003 The Gadsden Times
Contact:  http://www.gadsdentimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1203
Author: Cindy West

METH TASK FORCE RELEASES RECOMMENDATIONS

GUNTERSVILLE - Fighting the crystal methamphetamine epidemic will require 
education, cooperation and enforcement, according to recommendations 
released Friday by the Marshall County Crystal Methamphetamine Task Force.

"It's not just a Marshall County problem or a Northeast Alabama problem," 
Marshall said.

"It's a nationwide problem. There is no panacea, no single answer to deal 
with it. People have given countless hours of their time to this task 
force. They have, I believe, put together a plan that's going to make a 
difference."

The 28-member task force was formed in December 2001 when Angela Sparks 
talked with newly appointed District Attorney Steve Marshall. Sparks, 
director of the Marshall County Court Referral Program, which includes drug 
court, suggested that Marshall focus on the county's methamphetamine problem.

Starting without any assumptions, the team's first mission was one of fact 
finding. It learned that methamphetamine accounted for 33 percent of felony 
drug arrests in 2000 and for 73 percent of drug cases in 2002. "In the 
grand jury we just finished, 75 percent of the 251 total cases were related 
to drug use and addiction," Marshall said.

The group found that more than 70 percent of the child abuse and neglect 
cases reported to the county Department of Human Resources were directly 
related to a parent or guardian being on drugs.

"During several months of the task force's work, Marshall County ranked 
third in the state for the number of child abuse and neglect reports," 
Marshall said.

During the spring of 2002, the task force hosted eight town meetings across 
the county to inform people about the problem. About 2,000 parents, 
teachers and other people attended.

"People came up to us after those meetings and said, 'I need help for my 
friend,' 'I need help for myself,' (and) 'Let me tell you about something 
I've identified in the community,'" Marshall said.

The task force's 22 recommendations range from forming a non-profit 
organization to seek grants and collect information on methamphetamine use 
to developing procedures to notify social-service agencies about newborns 
who test positive for methamphetamine.

The group has already implemented one of the recommendations, the Merchants 
Against Meth program. Retailers are being encouraged to look out for people 
who buy large amounts of the chemicals used to make the drug and report 
their observations to police.

Marshall County District Attorney Steve Marshall said Merchants Against 
Meth, which began in February, has led to some meth lab discoveries. "We 
don't always know (which calls come from merchants) because they can call 
in anonymously," he said.

Bill Stricklend, a district attorney's office investigator, said he 
believes the program is working because it's impossible to find iodine 
crystals at local stores. "I had a friend in the horse business looking for 
iodine crystals, which are used to treat thrush in horses," Stricklend 
said. "He couldn't find it here because merchants have removed it from 
their shelves."

Another business recommendation is providing countywide human resources 
training about drug-testing policies and awareness. That training has been 
scheduled for next month, Marshall said.

May 30 is the deadline to distribute a list of substance-abuse treatment 
providers to various county agencies.

Public awareness should be increased by creating a Web site with 
drug-related information and resources by Dec. 31, continuing community 
education efforts, recommending the creation of a statewide commission to 
direct strategies, recommending legislation that restricts the purchase of 
the chemicals used to make the drug and requiring the reporting of the 
purchase of excessive amounts of the drug, according to the report.

To support enforcement of existing laws, the task force will ask the local 
legislative delegation to re-establish minimum mandatory sentences and 
enhancement. Formerly, five years could be added to the sentence of people 
convicted of distribution of a controlled substance within three miles of a 
public school or public housing community. The Supreme Court ruled 16 
months ago that such enhancements could be suspended.

If the pharmaceutical industry could be persuaded to develop and add a 
substance to pseudoephedrine that would make it ineffective in 
methamphetamine production, that would made it harder to manufacture the 
drug locally, according to the report.

Locally produced methamphetamine is not the greatest source of the drug, 
however. The task force decided that being able to quickly remove from 
Marshall County illegal immigrants who traffic in meth would cut down on 
major supplies coming from areas such as California and Texas, Marshall said.
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