Pubdate: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 Source: Sun, The (WA) Copyright: 2003 SunLink Contact: http://www.thesunlink.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1424 GROUND GAINED ON METH EPIDEMIC In 2003, there were some major advances in the fight against the methamphetamine epidemic, which has gripped Kitsap County and many other areas of the West for the last decade. Five years of effort by federal, state and local authorities broke up the Munoz-Munoz organization, believed responsible for half the local meth supply. Twenty-six people involved with the Mexico-based drug trafficking family were convicted and sentenced to federal prison, and the street price of the drug zoomed, a positive indicator of success. Busts of local meth-producing labs fell by about a third, the first decrease in years. Other positive signs include plans by the Kitsap County Drug Interdiction Task Force to launch a countywide education effort in 2004, cooperative efforts by three local health providers to treat urgent drug problems at the new Crisis Triage Center and the promise of more drug treatment money from the state. But the dire social impacts of meth abuse remain. In May, a man walking his dog discovered the body of meth addict and dealer Robert Wadding crammed into a discarded chest of drawers, a grim reminder of the brutal nature of the illicit drug underworld. Three people have been convicted for their roles in the murder-robbery and the chief suspect is believed to have fled the country. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman