Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jul 2005
Source: Boston Weekly Dig (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Boston Weekly Dig
Contact:  http://www.weeklydig.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1515

METH MATH

IN A TEXTBOOK case of Washington being out of touch with what's happening in
the country, the federal government has declared marijuana the nation's
biggest  drug problem, ignoring an epidemic of methamphetamine addiction in
the West, the  South, and the Midwest. Local law enforcement officials are
howling because the  Bush administration is actually planning to drop an
$804 million grant program  that has helped them deal with the proliferation
of makeshift laboratories  producing meth, a drug whose danger is heightened
by its low cost. The White House bases the higher priority it places on
marijuana on data showing there are 15 million regular marijuana users and
just 1 million meth users. But that bean-counting approach overlooks how
much more devastating meth is to users.

The drug produces an intense rush followed by a crash and is highly
addictive.

A survey by the National Association of Counties released last week found
that officials in nearly 60 percent of all counties listed meth as their
most serious drug problem.

Marijuana, at 17 percent, was third on the list,  after cocaine, at 19
percent.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration itself says 7,438 meth labs were
busted in 1999 and 17,033 last year. The toll that meth takes is especially
visible in the large number of children nationwide who have to go into
shelters  or foster homes because their parents have been arrested for meth
production or  use or are too incapacitated by the drug to care for their
youngsters. In the survey of county officials, 40 percent of child welfare
officials reported that meth had led to an increase in the number of
children removed from homes. Social service agencies say the degree of
neglect and hunger suffered by  children of parents who use meth is greater
than with any other drug. The drug  also leads to higher rates of
burglaries, identity theft, and domestic abuse. In many states with severe
meth problems, laws have been passed or are being weighed to limit sales of
cold medicines with ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, ingredients used in meth
production. Senators Dianne Feinstein, of California, a  Democrat, and Jim
Talent, of Missouri, a Republican, have sponsored federal  legislation that
would limit purchases of cold medicine by any individual on a  monthly
basis.

How useful such measures would be on a long-term basis is questionable,
however, since much of the meth is coming in from foreign sources. There is
a strong consensus among local officials against ending the grant program,
which coordinated and financed antidrug efforts among local, state, and
federal authorities. In setting priorities for federal funds, combatting
meth  should rate higher than dissuading high school students from smoking
marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Josh