Pubdate: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 Source: Sun, The (WA) Copyright: 2003 SunLink Contact: http://www.thesunlink.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1424 Author: Angela D. Smith STATE, LOCALS MAKING DENT IN METH LABS In Washington's war on methamphetamine, battles are being won, local and state officials say. Fewer labs used to make the addictive and illegal stimulant were reported in the first quarter of 2003 than in the first quarter of 2002 in Kitsap County and the state. The West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team received 35 reports of meth labs from January to May 2002, compared with 19 labs and eight dump sites this year. "It's an encouraging trend," said Sgt. Randy Drake, head of WestNET, which comprises detectives from police departments, the state patrol and the Sheriff's Office in Kitsap County. Statewide, there were 12 percent fewer meth labs -- 726 in 2003 and 825 in 2002 -- reported in the first five months of the year. This year's first-quarter decrease comes on the heels of a 10 percent decline in the number of labs reported in 2002. "For the last year, we started to see an indication of a decline, but we were very tentative about it ... but for now, into this year, we're seeing a continuation of the decline in the number of meth labs," said Patricia Lisicich, executive director for Safe Streets Campaign of Kitsap County, and part of the Washington State Meth Initiative. Though groups are collecting data about users, it is still too early to say if actual use of meth has declined, Lisicich said. The drug has been recognized since the early 1990s as a burgeoning problem and has been fingered as the cause of property and violent crime increases throughout the nation. The number of reported clandestine labs increased dramatically in the early 1990s as people learned to recognize their components. Fewer reports in Kitsap this year are not due to less enforcement, Drake said. Two detectives, fresh from the Poulsbo and Port Orchard police departments, joined WestNET in January 2002 and have become more adept at identifying labs. Myriad actions from local to federal levels deserve the credit for what officials hope is a sign that meth's use is dwindling. Public education and the resulting community activism, more funding for treatment, and enforcement of laws requiring tougher sentences for meth dealers and those who illegally sell meth-making ingredients, is the three-pronged approach that officials say has been making the difference. No number defines when the war on meth will be won. "We need to drive it to the point that it's no longer the stimulant of choice among people who use stimulants," said State Patrol Detective Sgt. Tom Zweiger, who has been in drug enforcement for 24 years. "We won't ever eliminate it. There's always going to be someone out there to use the drug, but once the demand dies off, from an economic standpoint there will be no market." There still is a long way to go before meth use is at a more comfortable level, Lisicich said, but with what she's seeing now from angry citizens to legislators, she predicts that "in the next couple years we'll see a more dramatic decline."