Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2005
Source: Huntsville Times (AL)
Copyright: 2005 The Huntsville Times
Contact:  http://www.htimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/730
Author: David Brewer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

AG KING CALLS METH 'SCOURGE OF OUR STATE'

He Plans New Law Enforcement Unit To Address Problem

SCOTTSBORO - Alabama Attorney General Troy King said a statewide law 
enforcement unit will soon be created to address the state's growing 
methamphetamine problem.

"Meth is the scourge of our state," King told local civic leaders at a 
Scottsboro Rotary Club luncheon Wednesday. "It's a witches' brew that's 
killing people, and we're not doing enough about it. We need a better 
statewide response to it."

King said he will announce soon how the new unit will coordinate efforts 
around the state to shut down meth production and use. "Meth is incredibly 
addictive," he said. "People can cook it in their trunks. It's more of a 
cottage industry rather than one controlled by drug lords. That makes it 
more difficult to stop."

The new unit will look at more training, stiffer penalties and other 
changes to provide a drug enforcement program.

Meth has become the state's biggest drug threat, the U.S. Drug Enforcement 
Administration reported.

According to the DEA, DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall and Madison counties were 
among seven counties with the worst meth lab problems in the state in 2003. 
Law enforcement agents raided at least 60 meth labs in Huntsville and 
Madison County in 2004.

King asked local leaders for their help in protecting family values that 
are endangered by scam artists targeting the elderly and sexual predators 
seeking children on the Internet. "I see kids who have been preyed upon by 
these predators and pedophiles, who have robbed them of their innocence," 
he said.

King said the attorney general's office will do its part to expedite 
bringing criminals to justice in spite of delays by federal courts.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager