Pubdate: Fri, 16 Sep 2005
Source: Daily Astorian, The (OR)
Copyright: 2005 The Daily Astorian
Contact:  http://www.dailyastorian.info/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1629
Author: Sandra Swain
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

BAIRD FORMED CONGRESSIONAL METH CAUCUS TO BETTER LOBBY FOR DRUG-FIGHTING 
RESOURCES

U.S. Rep. David Wu, a Democrat whose district includes Clatsop County, said 
he and his counterpart across the river, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., 
started paying attention to the meth issue about five or six years ago.

"In 1999 and 2000, it was a surprise to me that meth was in rural counties. 
Now it has become a dramatic national issue, and that has brought more 
resources to the table. We have roughly doubled the amount of federal money 
to fight meth, and Oregon will get its share," Wu said.

Contamination caused by meth labs is of particular concern to Wu, who is 
the ranking member of the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on 
Environment, Technology and Standards. He helped author a bipartisan bill 
that would help develop cleanup guidelines for meth labs and provide for 
studying long-term health impacts to children living in meth labs and first 
responders who enter meth labs.

"The pattern is that once a community focuses a lot of attention on meth, 
the number of labs and the amount of use tend to drop," Wu said.

Baird, who was a practicing psychologist before he was elected to Congress 
in 1998, has first-hand knowledge of the effects of meth.

"I worked with meth addicts and I saw it increasing in my practice. It's 
one reason I ran for Congress," he said. Baird said he visits every high 
school in his district every two years, and always talks about meth.

During those visits, young people from Pacific County have come to him to 
ask what they should do about friends who are cooking meth. One 16-year-old 
said his mother had died two years earlier from using meth.

Until a couple of years ago there was an exponential growth of home labs, 
Baird said. That number has gone down recently, but not the number of 
users. He said comprehensive federal legislation is in the pipeline to deal 
with the domestic and international supply of precursor chemicals, as well 
as additional funds to deal with the influx of meth from Mexico.

"In terms of the destructive impact of the drug, it doesn't matter where it 
comes from," Baird said.

Five years ago, Baird founded the House Meth Caucus. From a small 
beginning, the caucus now has more than 100 members. The bipartisan group 
recently sent a letter to President Bush declaring meth to be the nation's 
No. 1 drug threat. Until last month, the administration's drug czar had 
played down meth and focused on marijuana as the major threat.

"They realize they've been AWOL on this issue," Baird said. "I think we're 
making progress. This year is a turning point in Congressional awareness of 
meth."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman