Pubdate: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Copyright: 2005 The Salt Lake Tribune Contact: http://www.sltrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383 Author: Dan Eggen, Washington Post Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) 400 ARRESTED NATIONWIDE IN FEDERAL CRACKDOWN ON METH WASHINGTON - Facing growing criticism that the federal government is not doing enough to combat methamphetamine use, the Justice Department on Tuesday announced the results of a weeklong raid of drug suppliers and manufacturers and unveiled a Web site aimed at dissuading teen-agers from taking up the drug. Operation Wildfire, billed as the first nationally coordinated investigation to target methamphetamine, resulted in more than 400 arrests and the dismantling of 56 clandestine drug laboratories nationwide, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Police and drug agents found 30 children in the makeshift labs when they were raided, officials said. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and DEA Administrator Karen Tandy also announced the launch of http://www.justthinktwice.com, a teen-oriented Web site run by the DEA. The site features graphic pictures of drug users' rotting teeth, before-and-after pictures of methamphetamine users and other warnings about the perils of methamphetamine abuse. "Some say it's great, but it's really your worst nightmare," the Web site says. Tuesday's news conference marked the second time this month that the Bush administration has sought to focus attention on the federal government's efforts to contain methamphetamine trafficking and use. Gonzales joined White House officials in Tennessee on Aug. 18 to announce the creation of another Web site, www.methresources.gov, and a $16 million treatment program aimed at those who abuse the drug. Tandy said Tuesday that the latest methamphetamine arrests show the federal government's "commitment to extinguishing this plague." "Meth has spread like wildfire across the United States," Tandy said. "It has burned out communities, scorched childhoods and charred once happy and productive lives beyond recognition." The announcements follow escalating demands from local and state officials for more federal help in targeting methamphetamine, a stimulant particularly prevalent in poorer and rural communities with few resources to combat it. Methamphetamine poses a significant safety threat to law enforcement officials, who often encounter dangerous home laboratories stocked with hazardous ingredients like battery acid. - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman