Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 Source: Kingsport Times-News (TN) Copyright: 2005 Kingsport Publishing Corporation Contact: http://gotricities.net/domains/timesnews.net/lettertoEditor.dna?action=new Website: http://www.timesnews.net/ 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth