Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO) Copyright: 2004 The Springfield News-Leader Contact: http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129 Author: Eric Eckert and James Goodwin, News-Leader Staff Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/methact.htm (Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act) METH TARGETED IN STATE INITIATIVES Local motel workers learn how to deal with the dangers from drug labs. When Randal Miller or any member of his housekeeping staff clean a hotel room, they have to watch where they put their hands. "We've been finding needles," said Miller, acting manager of a local hotel. "We're finding them behind the Kleenex boxes. We have to be very careful." Miller said the hotel, which he asked not be named, experiences occasional drug traffic - much of it related to methamphetamine. "We have people come in and they're getting adjoining rooms," Miller said after attending a Tuesday meeting for area hotel and motel workers to teach them how to notice and report criminal activity. "They'll sleep in one and sell or cook out of the other. We're trying to learn how we can stop it." Last year, Missouri led the nation in shutting down meth-producing labs, 2,800 of them. That helped prompt Gov. Bob Holden to create two new task forces to battle the devastating drug known for its low prices and long-term highs. He announced his plans Tuesday. The new programs were formed, by executive order, to help prevent meth use through education and to develop treatment programs. The governor also expanded the focus of an existing task force to address dangers that meth labs present to officers and the environment. "We are doing an excellent job shutting down these meth labs, but we need to educate and prevent children from taking the drug," Holden said in a prepared statement. "We also must treat those who are already addicted." The governor made his announcement the same day Springfield police held the meeting for hotel and motel workers. "Springfield's No. 2 in the state for meth production," said police Sgt. Troy Smith. "Kansas City is No. 1 in the country for meth labs." Capt. Ron Replogle of the Missouri Highway Patrol said education and treatment are natural offshoots of the 5-year-old Clandestine Lab Task Force. "I think our task force has done a very good job in the enforcement area, and (we) developed a cleanup program that's nationally recognized," he said. "So we were starting to look into some of those other issues." The reorganized Clandestine Lab Task Force is now known as the Missouri Methamphetamine Enforcement and Environmental Protection Task Force. The group will focus on the safety of officers who raid meth labs and environmental effects of the labs. Members of the task forces will meet in April at a meth summit in Kansas City. Police, prosecutors, teachers, doctors and others will also attend. Psychologist Paul Thomlinson, vice president of research at Burrell Behavioral Health Center, said he applauds the governor's education-and-treatment approach to the meth battle. "We'll never be able to arrest our way out of this problem," Thomlinson said. "Without treatment, these folks (meth addicts) end up going down a very bad road." Thomlinson helped conduct a study several years ago that addressed the meth problem. "We looked at and gathered data from heavy users of methamphetamine," he said. "One of the questions we asked was. 'What might have helped you not get involved with meth?' "People told us they needed more education about this - the dangerous chemicals they'd be taking into their bodies, the aftereffects. They said it might have helped them stay away if they'd known more." Springfield police Officer Nathan Thomas also said it's imperative to educate the community on the dangers of meth. "We're always looking for an opportunity to get the information out," Thomas said. "The more people we have out there looking for it, the more we can intervene." Last year, Holden signed into law a Republican-sponsored bill that toughened penalties for manufacturing drugs near schools and homes where children live. The law also limits the sale of over-the-counter drugs containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, prime ingredients in the manufacture of meth. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder said Democrats and Republicans find common ground fighting illegal drugs. "It has not been a partisan issue," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek