Pubdate: Sat, 22 May 2004 Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC) Copyright: 2004 Fayetteville Observer Contact: http://www.fayettevillenc.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) READY TO REACT Sampson's Strength Is Vigilance Drugs, some say, are urban problems. That is a perilous attitude, and wrong. It's also one that Sampson County law enforcement was commended for not having adopted. The drug that users rationalize as enabling their lives - staying thin or staying up late to work two jobs - swept from the West and landed in North Carolina. Kitchen-sink methamphetamine makers easily blow up themselves and their children - sometimes their neighbors if the homes are close enough. Deputies can easily be harmed if they don't know what they are doing when investigating labs and removing evidence. When the chemicals are dumped, they seep into the water table. Socially and environmentally, meth labs are a menace. More meth labs have been found in Harnett and Sampson than any other counties in the Cape Fear region. Maybe those counties are being targeted by manufacturers who move there not to attract notice; maybe the lack of jobs or the lure of money - greed - entices rural residents into the business. Or maybe it's just that the labs are being spotted more easily in those counties. Duane Deaver, an agent with the State Bureau of Investigation, thinks that might be the case. He told the Sampson County Board of Commissioners that the sheriff and deputies are doing a good job investigating the labs. He commended the county's planning. Sampson set up a task force. On a national level, the drug epidemic seems unstoppable. But on a local level, that's another matter. Counties and cities have made progress in promoting public safety and discouraging drug trades in their communities. That might chase the problem somewhere else. But local law enforcement and leaders can only be responsible for their own communities. When the methamphetamine trade spread its way, Sampson County officials didn't hide or pretend that a large problem couldn't hit small towns. They were ready to react, and did. Good job. Other North Carolina counties should take note of Sampson's work. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder