Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jul 2005
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration ( www.dea.gov )

METH MATH

IN A TEXTBOOK case of Washington being out of touch with what's 
happening in the country, the federal government has declared 
marijuana the nation's biggest drug problem, ignoring an epidemic of 
methamphetamine addiction in the West, the South, and the Midwest. 
Local law enforcement officials are howling because the Bush 
administration is actually planning to drop an $804 million grant 
program that has helped them deal with the proliferation of makeshift 
laboratories producing meth, a drug whose danger is heightened by its low cost.

The White House bases the higher priority it places on marijuana on 
data showing there are 15 million regular marijuana users and just 1 
million meth users. But that bean-counting approach overlooks how 
much more devastating meth is to users. The drug produces an intense 
rush followed by a crash and is highly addictive. A survey by the 
National Association of Counties released last week found that 
officials in nearly 60 percent of all counties listed meth as their 
most serious drug problem. Marijuana, at 17 percent, was third on the 
list, after cocaine, at 19 percent.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration itself says 7,438 meth 
labs were busted in 1999 and 17,033 last year. The toll that meth 
takes is especially visible in the large number of children 
nationwide who have to go into shelters or foster homes because their 
parents have been arrested for meth production or use or are too 
incapacitated by the drug to care for their youngsters.

In the survey of county officials, 40 percent of child welfare 
officials reported that meth had led to an increase in the number of 
children removed from homes. Social service agencies say the degree 
of neglect and hunger suffered by children of parents who use meth is 
greater than with any other drug. The drug also leads to higher rates 
of burglaries, identity theft, and domestic abuse.

In many states with severe meth problems, laws have been passed or 
are being weighed to limit sales of cold medicines with ephedrine or 
pseudoephedrine, ingredients used in meth production. Senators Dianne 
Feinstein, of California, a Democrat, and Jim Talent, of Missouri, a 
Republican, have sponsored federal legislation that would limit 
purchases of cold medicine by any individual on a monthly basis. How 
useful such measures would be on a long-term basis is questionable, 
however, since much of the meth is coming in from foreign sources.

There is a strong consensus among local officials against ending the 
grant program, which coordinated and financed antidrug efforts among 
local, state, and federal authorities. In setting priorities for 
federal funds, combatting meth should rate higher than dissuading 
high school students from smoking marijuana.
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