Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 Source: Star-News (NC) Copyright: 2005 Wilmington Morning Star Contact: http://www.wilmingtonstar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) COMPROMISE WITH A CHILD ABUSER? As the N.C. House wrings its hands about whether to make it a bit harder to produce a vicious addictive drug, children are being endangered, neglected, abused and sent to foster homes. Families are being destroyed. Lives are being ruined. And North Carolina taxpayers will get most of the resulting bills -- for child care, medical care, law enforcement, courts, prisons and the clean up of toxic chemicals spilled by those who make methamphetamine in kitchens, sheds and hideouts. Yet House Honorables haven't been able to bring themselves to upset small retailers who might lose a few dollars on the sale of pseudoephedrine pills (one brand name is Sudafed), which can be used to make meth. It isn't as if people suffering from colds and allergies have no alternatives. The shelves are crowded with them. In any case, the anti-meth bill passed by the N.C. Senate would let stuffed-up folks buy limited quantities of pseudoephedrine at pharmacies if they show identification. Sheriffs, district attorneys and N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper support the Senate bill. Retail lobbyists and some rural legislators - -- who apparently fail to grasp the threat this drug poses to their constituents -- are trying to weaken it. As the dithering proceeds in Raleigh, The New York Times reports on the heartbreaking effects of meth on children in states that have let the drug take hold. The number of children sent to foster homes has increased sharply. In many cases, they never go home, because their parents are so messed up. A state official in Oregon told The Times, "In every way, shape and form, (meth) is the worst drug ever for child welfare." At last count, 203 meth labs had been found in North Carolina this year. We can only guess how many children have suffered birth defects, gone hungry, been ignored or been abused. The N.C. House apparently cares more about lobbyists and campaign contributors. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth