Pubdate: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) Copyright: 2004 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. Contact: http://www.knoxnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/226 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) FIGHTING METH MUST BE PRIORITY IN TENNESSEE None of it is a surprise. Not the growing numbers of people who make and abuse methamphetamine, not the need for multiple solutions, not the fact that there are no magic bullets. Officials call it an epidemic. Methamphetamine affects the central nervous system, and it's made with over-the-counter ingredients that are easy to obtain. Its users have no remorse for the crimes they commit to obtain the drug. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration has reported that 1,253 meth labs were cleaned up in Tennessee last year, the most in any state for the third year in a row. The FDA estimates that three-quarters of the meth labs in the Southeast are in Tennessee. What is not a surprise is that Tennessee officials must take the issue seriously, and a meth task force recently presented recommendations for dealing with the scourge to Gov. Phil Bredesen. It's also at or near the top of the priority list for Mark Gwyn, the new director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Gwyn is a member of the governor's task force, and recommendations include longer jail sentences for meth abusers, limiting the availability of products used to make the drug and expanded treatment for addicts. Bredesen is expected to push for legislation to enact the recommendations when the Legislature reconvenes next year. "It's not something you can just say, 'OK, if we put 100 more officers on the street, we can solve this problem,' " Gwyn said. "Meth is not like that. To really get hold of it, we're going to have to attack it not only from a law enforcement perspective but from a legislative perspective, just all the way around." We're glad the process has begun - that Bredesen has taken the issue seriously enough to create a task force and that the task force has done its work with due deliberation. The next step is up to the legislators, but there will be more work after that. "The nature of the drug the tentacles that spread out from meth are unlike any other drug in the way it affects not just the user but the people around the user," Gwyn said. And he acknowledges it's difficult to know what will work until some of the task force's recommendations are tried. "It's so widespread now that there's no way from a law enforcement perspective that I think we can get our arms around it," Gwyn said. "No matter what, it's going to take other help." And that's not a surprise, either. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake