Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jul 2005
Source: Kingsport Times-News (TN)
Copyright: 2005 Kingsport Publishing Corporation
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1437
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

ANDERSON WAS CORRECT ABOUT SCOURGE OF METH

Three years ago, while abuse of the prescription painkiller OxyContin 
was still dominating media reports, Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne 
Anderson presciently predicted a new drug scourge was rapidly 
advancing. And, Anderson warned, "It will make OxyContin look like candy."

The drug was methamphetamine - "meth" in street parlance - but also 
known as "crank," "speed" or "ice." Whatever its drug-culture name, 
meth has spread throughout our region, making Anderson's words all 
too prophetic.

As if to punctuate his warning, the explosion of an illegal meth lab 
occurred just days later in Bulls Gap, killing two men and leaving 
another in intensive care. In the three years since, the production, 
distribution and use of meth have grown to epidemic levels, not only 
on the local level but across much of the nation.

The federal government still characterizes marijuana as the leading 
drug problem in America, but a new survey of 500 county law 
enforcement agencies shows those on the front lines strongly 
disagree. The 45-state study by the National Association of Counties 
shows local law enforcement uniformly identifies methamphetamine, far 
and away, as their number one drug concern. Clearly, much of that 
concern is driven by the exponential rise in meth lab activity: 87 
percent of law enforcement agencies reported increases in 
methamphetamine-related arrests in the last three years, and 62 
percent reported increases in lab seizures. Tennessee was among 17 
states reporting a 100 percent increase in meth-related arrests in 
the past three years.

There are other illegal drugs out there to be sure, but meth's 
manufacture and addiction rates make it a unique drug danger to 
community health and the environment. And that danger increases daily.

Last year, law enforcement authorities seized 1,594 labs in Tennessee 
- - a number exceeded only by Missouri.

As a result of this explosive growth, Tennessee now accounts for a 
staggering 75 percent of all the meth lab seizures in the entire 
Southeastern United States.

Tragically, meth abuse and clandestine labs are increasingly harming 
children as well. The Tennessee Department of Children's Services has 
reported that in roughly a year's time, more than 750 children were 
placed in state custody as a result of meth laboratory seizures and 
incidents. Particularly at risk are infants and toddlers living in 
homes in which toxic lab emissions are present.

Like many states, Tennessee has taken steps this year to make meth's 
ingredients harder to obtain by moving pseudo-ephedrine-based cold 
medications off store shelves and behind the counter, requiring 
customer identification and limiting the quantity of such medications 
that can be purchased at any one time. As well, criminal sanctions 
have been stiffened for those involved in the manufacture and 
distribution of meth.

In addition to this legislation, Gov. Bredesen has created a new Web 
site: MethFree Tennessee at www.methfreetn.org dedicated solely to 
information about meth's dangers. It's just one part of a 
comprehensive public education campaign that will eventually involve 
everyone from law enforcement and court officials to schoolchildren.

The state response to the meth crisis has been helpful, but much more 
needs to be done, particularly on the federal level where drug 
enforcement efforts obviously need to be refocused. Congress could 
provide a good start by restoring an $804 million federal Justice 
Assistance Program, slated for elimination in 2006, that has helped 
finance drug-fighting efforts between different jurisdictions in the past.

As the burgeoning number of lab busts demonstrates, the fight against 
methamphetamine is an increasingly tough one requiring the effort of 
every level of law enforcement from the local to the federal. While 
that effort will take time and results will be hard to measure for 
some time to come, it's a fight we must wage and win.
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MAP posted-by: Beth