As the President of the National Narcotic Officers' Associations Coalition representing 62,000 police officers from throughout the country, including New York, I was appalled by the comments of Albany County District Attorney David Soares when he suggested to Canadians that they not emulate U.S. drug policy and intimated that drug laws existed to create high-paying jobs for law enforcement officers.

This May 15 was the annual Law Enforcement Officers Memorial ceremony in Washington, D.C. Since 1792, more than 17,000 American police officers have lost their lives in the line of duty, many while enforcing drug laws.

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There is no doubt that increased methamphetamine abuse must be considered one of this country's most serious and disturbing trends.

State efforts to limit sales of decongestants and other sources of meth precursors are likely to limit the ability of small-time meth producers to create this highly addictive drug ("Decongestant sales being curbed to halt drug trade," News, Tuesday).

However, policymakers in Washington and in the states must also be aware of the unintended consequences of these efforts: When small meth producers are unable to procure chemicals, the large trafficking organizations operating massive meth-production sites that don't rely on store-bought pharmaceuticals will step in to satisfy the demand.

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As a career law enforcement officer, who has served as a past president of the California Narcotic Officers' Association and current chairman of the National Narcotics Officers' Associations Coalition, I applaud your well-researched and timely report regarding methamphetamine and the devastation it is causing.

I am, however, shocked at your question: "Where are the champions in Washington." Since 1995, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been this state's champion on a variety of drug issues, primarily policies relating to methamphetamine. Sen. Feinstein has made the methamphetamine problem her legislative priority. She convened the Western States Methamphetamine Conference in San Francisco, and worked to designate the Central Valley as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. She authored the Precursor Control Act, and has been one of the forces responsible for an $18.2 million grant to funds the California Methamphetamine Strategy, used by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement to augment his already robust enforcement.

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