Pubdate: Sun, 10 Jul 2005
Source: Journal News, The (NY)
Copyright: 2005 The Gannett Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nyjournalnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1205
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

CAN'T IGNORE METHAMPHETAMINE

The Bush administration and Congress need to react, now, to urgent
confirmation from the nation's county and law enforcement officials on
the multifaceted threats posed by methamphetamine, an easily made,
cheap, central nervous system stimulant that is not only highly
addictive but, in its "backyard" manufacturing, poses fire, explosion
and toxic threats.

Two surveys of sheriffs and service-agency officials released last
week by the National Association of Counties identified
methamphetamine as the No. 1 illegal-drug problem in every area of the
nation except the Northeast.

Even there, thankfully, Westchester County and, as of the recently
ended legislative session, New York state have begun to take some
steps. Westchester last year enacted legislation to restrict the sale
of cough and cold medications that contain pseudoephedrine, which can
be used to manufacture methamphetamine in large quantities.

Albany last month finally passed bills to criminalize and strengthen
penalties for the use of meth, which can be injected, snorted, smoked
or ingested orally; the set-up of methamphetamine labs, which rely on
common household and farm ingredients; and the disposal of its byproducts.

Gov. George Pataki is expected to sign the package, according to a
prime sponsor, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, D-Bronx. And credit U.S.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., for calling last year for increased
funding for education, law enforcement and treatment.

But, as the National Association of Counties noted in its survey
results, Washington continues to balk at prioritizing methamphetamine
as the nation's top drug scourge.

"On the national level, the federal government still considers
marijuana as the No. 1 drug problem in America, but county law
enforcement officials have a different perspective on this ranking,"
the association said. It called for federal money for treatment and
restoration of an $804 million program that helped financed
inter-jurisdictional drug-fighting.

The Bush administration is working on a methamphetamine policy, and
Congress is considering restricting the sale of products that contain
pseudoephedrine nationwide. Yet a policy analyst for the Office of
National Drug Control Policy told USA Today that marijuana remains a
top priority because it is the most commonly used illegal drug -15
million current users, compared with about 1 million meth users.

Yet the impact of methamphetamine cannot be measured simply. Its
production in makeshift clandestine "labs" has been directly linked to
fires and chemical spills. From January 2000 through June 2004, there
were 1,791 meth-related spills, fires or explosions in 15 of the 16
states, including New York, that report such incidents to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Every pound of meth produced
leaves behind six pounds of toxic byproducts that traffickers often
pour down toilets, onto the ground or into rivers and streams, Gannett
News Service reported. One expert told Congress in March that airborne
levels of meth can exist in a lab for as long as six months after a
"cook."

Since 2000, nine children have died in meth-lab accidents, scores have
been injured, and thousands have been exposed to the highly addictive
drug and its byproducts. Law enforcement and social services officials
say the extremely addictive form of "speed" produces highs in addicts
that lasts many hours and leads to binges that often last days or even
weeks. Meth is quickly leading to filled jails, increased hospital
admissions and heightened social problems, including a greater
incidence of child neglect and abuse. That latter in particular is
reminiscent of the crack cocaine wave of the 1980s.

How much more needs to be said about this decade's drug of devastation
for Washington to listen to the counties?
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin