Pubdate: Tue, 11 Oct 2005
Source: Carlsbad Current-Argus (NM)
Copyright: 2005 Carlsbad Current-Argus
Contact:  http://www.currentargus.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2549
Author: Karen Polly
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH EPIDEMIC HAS BINGAMAN'S ATTENTION

CARLSBAD - Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., met Monday with members of the 
Carlsbad Community Anti-Drug/Gang Coalition and local law enforcement 
officers to get input on how methamphetamines are affecting Carlsbad 
and to discuss ways the government can assist in combating meth production.

Bingaman spoke about two bills he is co-sponsoring, including the 
Combat Meth Act and the COPS Reauthorization Act. The Combat Meth Act 
is a bipartisan bill aimed at curbing methamphetamine production by 
requiring stores to move pseudoephedrine, a primary ingredient in 
methamphetamine, behind pharmacy counters. The COPS Reauthorization 
Act would provide $1.15 billion to continue the Community Oriented 
Policing Services and help law enforcement hire police officers and 
purchase new equipment.

"We're going to try to get both of these bills passed," Bingaman said.

Local law enforcement officers told Bingaman one of the most positive 
developments locally in fighting drugs was the development of Mayor 
Bob Forrest's Carlsbad Community Anti-Drug/Gang Coalition.

"It (drug sales) is not a police problem - it's a community problem," 
Pecos Valley Drug Task Force Commander Robert Sullivan said, noting 
the community is finally playing a role in the war on drugs.

Eddy County Sheriff Kent Waller said he agreed with Sullivan that the 
community coalition has tried to educate all facets of the community 
on the problem. While sometimes communities push to make changes 
occasionally, Waller said most times after six months, such efforts 
generally die. This has not been the case with the community 
coalition, he said.

"The coalition stepped out and brought the community together," 
Waller said. "The most positive thing is the interaction."

County Commissioner Janell Whitlock, a former Carlsbad municipal 
judge, said the best measurement for the community coalition is how 
long it has been going and how many people are still actively involved.

"I feel the coalition is proactive rather than reactive," she said.

Eve Flannigan, a member of the community coalition, said a study of 
local teens last year allowed the coalition to see where problems 
are. Bullying, drug use and the age of first drug and alcohol use 
among Carlsbad teems were much higher than the national average , she said.

Police Chief Darrin McGilvray said the addition of school resource 
officers in Carlsbad schools has helped. "We've seen a tremendous 
turnaround at the schools," McGilvray said.

Bingaman said Carlsbad and Eddy County may be ahead of the state and 
the rest of the country in developing a community coalition to 
address drug problems, but he had several questions. He said he was 
interested in knowing whether meth in Eddy County is home grown or 
coming over the Mexican border, whether meth was the main drug 
problem in the area and what is being done in the schools.

"It doesn't have the attractiveness of some other drugs," Bingaman 
said, noting that methamphetamine is particularly hard on the health of users.

But Sullivan said the reason meth is more attractive to users is that 
the high lasts for days. For the same cost that a user could be high 
for 30 minutes on cocaine, a meth user could be high for two to three 
days, he said.

Sullivan said, "Meth is our No. 1 problem."

Sullivan said in 2003-04 meth seizures increased in this area by 
1,000 percent, outpacing the rest of the state. Most methamphetamine 
comes across the border, he said, being manufactured in Mexico in 
large, highly pure quantities.

Meth created in small laboratories in New Mexico tends to be about 25 
percent pure, Sullivan said, while the drugs created in Mexico are 
generally 80 percent pure or better. Large drug organizations in 
Mexico that once specialized in marijuana or cocaine have increased 
their offerings to include methamphetamine, he added.

Prices of methamphetamine have dropped as the supply over the Mexican 
border has increased, Sullivan said, with an ounce costing $2,400 in 
2000, but now only $800.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman