Pubdate: Wed, 20 Jul 2005
Source: Neshoba Democrat, The (MS)
Copyright: 2005 The Neshoba Democrat
Contact:  http://www.neshobademocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1774

TAKING ON METH

The Modesto (Calif.) Bee said in a recent editorial:

Methamphetamine has become the No. 1 drug problem in a vast swath of the
nation, according to a new survey of county sheriffs across the country.

That's hardly a news flash, but there may be a silver lining of sorts in the
ugly cloud of toxic waste and human destruction meth casts over the
communities where it proliferates.

Now that the problem has clearly become a national one, various efforts to
combat the drug may be stepped up. That's surely good news for the San
Joaquin Valley, once the undisputed center of national meth manufacturing
and still home to a huge portion of the problem.

In the survey of 500 counties by the National Association of Counties, some
58 percent of sheriffs said meth is their top concern. It was followed by
cocaine (in 19 percent of counties) and marijuana (17 percent).

Meth was found to be involved in an increasing number - sometimes a large
majority - of crimes such as robberies and burglaries, assault and domestic
violence. The news contained in the survey may drive funding for meth
eradication efforts to a new level, which would be helpful. Beyond the human
misery the drug causes to users and those around them, there is a high cost
to the environment from the toxic wastes produced in the manufacture of the
drug. Cleaning up those messes isn't cheap, and the cost is beyond the
ability of most communities to bear.

We also hope the survey results will boost support in Congress for a bill by
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jim Talent, R-Mo., that would require
cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, an important ingredient in meth
production, to be sold from behind the counter at drug stores.

The bill also would limit the quantity of such medicines that any individual
could purchase in a month.

It isn't likely that meth will ever be eliminated, but we can - we must -
reduce its reach and limit the horrible damage it does to people and
communities. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh