Pubdate: Mon, 18 Feb 2002
Source: Kansas City Star (MO)
Copyright: 2002 The Kansas City Star
Contact:  http://www.kcstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/221
Author: Dawn Bormann, The Kansas City Star
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

DEA CHIEF EXAMINES WAYS TO HELP KANSAS FIGHT METHAMPHETAMINE

As head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Asa Hutchinson hears 
reports on the agency's struggle to fight drug traffickers from Mexico, the 
Caribbean and elsewhere.

Today, he'll hear how the battle to fight methamphetamine manufacturers in 
rural and urban Kansas has crippled budgets and overwhelmed authorities.

The national attention comes shortly after the Kansas Bureau of 
Investigation reported that state authorities seized 846 labs in 2001, a 20 
percent increase over 2000, when 702 labs were busted, said KBI spokesman 
Kyle Smith.

Hutchinson and U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, will tour a 
rehabilitation center and conduct a town hall meeting in Hutchinson, Kan. 
They will hear from county sheriffs, emergency room doctors, social workers 
and others.

Kansas officials hope the DEA chief's visit means more federal grants to 
fight meth.

State figures show that meth cost Kansas at least $21 million in 2000, 
including prosecuting, incarcerating and treating users. About $2 million 
of that total was used to clean toxic and volatile chemicals from meth lab 
sites.

However, the DEA has already been stretched thin. After Sept. 11, 
government resources and FBI agents were diverted from the war on drugs to 
the war on terrorism.

The attacks have also dried up local law enforcement budgets as national 
security was tightened, Smith said.

"The strained resources get strained even thinner," he said.

For years, meth has been the top focus for the KBI. Increased penalties 
have helped to slow the drug's popularity among Kansans, but the state 
still ranks among the top meth producers.

KBI reports show that Shawnee County had the most meth lab busts last year, 
with 90. Cowley County followed with 67 and Saline County had 62.

In the Kansas City area, nine labs were seized in Leavenworth County and 
seven each in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, according to the KBI. Six 
were seized in Douglas County, three in Miami County.

The figures may not include all lab seizures, officials said. In some 
cases, the DEA or local agencies haven't reported seizures to the KBI.

Missouri authorities are experiencing the same dilemma. The state seized 
more than 2,000 labs in 2001, up from 908 the previous year, according to 
the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Later this week, Smith said, the KBI will again ask Kansas legislators to 
tighten laws that apply to meth manufacturing. The top priority is to limit 
to three the amount of ephedrine- and pseudoephedrine-based products that 
consumers can purchase at once. The drugs, commonly found in cold and 
allergy medicine, serve as the main element for meth, he said.

"We need to control access to the basic ingredient," Smith said.

Authorities hope tighter laws and more money will help their efforts, but 
for the foreseeable future they expect the number of busts to increase. As 
they add agents and increase public education, they receive even more tips 
about laboratories.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager