Pubdate: Sun, 29 May 2005
Source: Bristol Herald Courier (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Bristol Herald Courier
Contact:  http://www.bristolnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1211
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH THREAT REQUIRES A UNITED FIGHT

Methamphetamine first knocked on the region's door five years
ago.

Few sensed the gathering danger, but now there's no denying it. The
super stimulant has taken hold of too many in our region, leaving in
its wake shattered lives.

Fighting it will require a multi-disciplined approach. Meth isn't just
a law enforcement problem, easily fixed by locking up the makers,
sellers and users. Treating addicts and warning middle and high school
students not to try the drug must be part of the strategy.

Beyond that, Virginia needs laws that make it harder to purchase the
drug's main ingredients. State lawmakers should follow Tennessee's
example and move all pseudoephedrine-containing cold pills behind the
pharmacist's counter. Although Virginia set some limits on the amount
of pills that can be purchased at one time, that measure falls short.
You can still buy cold pills at a convenience store in Virginia for
goodness sake.

Amazingly, some still don't believe there is a meth problem. Ignore it
and it will go away, they seem to say. Some even accuse the newspaper
of manufacturing the crisis or of sensationalism. That belief ignores
the facts or stems from a libertarian impulse to legalize all drugs.

In the last 17 months, police have taken down dozens of clandestine
drug laboratories in the region - mostly in the Virginia counties
along the Interstate 81 corridor. One lab exploded and caused a fire
in a Smyth County motel.

Arrests are up, so are prosecutions. Likewise, a majority of children
placed in foster care in the region are removed from their homes
because of methamphetamine. The new drug of choice is straining
resources from the courthouse to the squad car to the hospital
emergency room.

Sticking one's head in the sand ostrich-like and pretending there is
no problem is not an option. Meth requires a full-out fight, just as
the region turned its attention to prescription drug abuse several
years ago with some degree of success. With meth, which hooks most
users the first time they try it, the stakes are even higher.

That's why a multi-pronged approach is needed. The state needs to pump
more resources into law enforcement, drug treatment and social services.

Local educators must focus on the next generation: Let the users tell
the young people their stories, how the drug wrecked their bodies and
swallowed their lives. Show them the before and after photographs that
demonstrate how meth use makes one old before their time. Scare them
for their own good.

And lawmakers must make it harder to purchase the precursor
ingredients. It does no good for Tennessee, Kentucky and North
Carolina to crack down if the ingredients are easily available in
Virginia. This will take a regional approach.

Only through a concentrated, intense fight can the region turn the
tide and reduce meth's danger. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake