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. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager