Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL) Copyright: 2005sPeoria Journal Star Contact: http://pjstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/338 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) PUT METH ON WHITE HOUSE DRUG HIT LIST For the last several years, methamphetamine has been the nation's fastest growing illegal drug. It's easy to manufacture, primarily out of household products that cost as little as $50. It can be made at home, so there's no middle man to get the stuff, no dangerous transactions, no borders to cross. It gives a powerful high and is highly addictive. "The problem is getting worse and worse," says Master Sgt. Ron Ales. As head of the local State Police meth response team, he should know. In the eight weeks his unit has been operating, it's made 21 arrests and busted 14 labs in a 15-county central Illinois region that includes the Tri-County area. Business is so good the officers are working full-time on meth, among the more than 60 officers across Illinois doing so. It comes as no surprise to him that county sheriffs from throughout the nation believe that methamphetamines are their most serious drug problem. In a survey conducted by the National Association of Counties, the sheriffs blamed meth for overcrowding in their jails, for increases in theft and violence and for various social welfare problems, including child abuse. One sheriff in Indiana estimates that 80 percent of his inmates are being held on meth-related offenses. Imagine that. Just last week, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said it would shift 56 caseworkers from the Chicago area to downstate because the rise in methamphetamine abuse is tearing families apart. The sheriffs used their findings to ask the federal government to restore $804 million cut from the 2006 budget to fight drugs. Some of that money had been used to form local anti-meth units, such as those in Illinois. The cut is especially harmful because of the popularity of meth and because "there's not much (federal money) to start with," says Joe Dunn, the county association's associate legislative director. Now the sheriffs have an important ally in Washington. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Monday called meth "the most dangerous drug in America," surpassing marijuana. His analysis is welcome, since the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy - at least until last week - was insisting that the nation's most serious drug problem is marijuana. White House officials said this is because there are 15 million marijuana users in the country, compared to an estimated one million meth addicts. They also argued that marijuana is a gateway drug that can lead to more harmful behavior. Obviously, these officials have spent very little time in the rural parts of Illinois or Indiana, where the gateway drug is methamphetamine, where it's crippling users and their families, where it's imposing almost impossible burdens on police agencies. It's not marijuana that's filling up the county jails. The meth problem alone makes a strong case for restoring the drug-fighting money cut from next year's federal budget. But a stronger one exists for distinguishing pot from meth and for turning the White House's bully pulpit toward the most dangerous drug out there. Gonzales' statement is a start. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth