Pubdate: Wed, 08 Mar 2006
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2006 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:  http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Lee Rood
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

MONEY TO BATTLE DRUGS TO BE CUT

The president's messenger got a lukewarm reception in Iowa.

While law enforcement officials and legislators were happy to receive 
kudos Tuesday from national drug czar John Walters for Iowa's efforts 
to combat methamphetamine, many disliked the federal budget news that 
he brought to the Statehouse.

The Bush administration, Walters confirmed, will be shifting more 
federal money earmarked for battling meth and other drugs to homeland 
security efforts. However, states will still be able to make choices 
as to how some of that money will be used, Walters said.

"That's just double-talk," said Des Moines Police Chief William 
McCarthy, who has been arguing his own case for more money for 
anti-terrorism efforts in Des Moines. "We set priorities. We don't 
pit them against one another."

The visit from Walters proved an opportunity for several powerful 
officials, particularly Democrats, to vent publicly about roughly 
$12.7 million that the administration has proposed eliminating from 
Iowa criminal justice programs by 2007.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., and others have said the cuts could 
cripple Iowa's drug enforcement efforts, potentially wiping out as 
many as 25 task forces and affecting up to 70 crime-control projects statewide.

Already, Iowa has sustained a 57 percent cut over the last two years 
from two key federal funds that pay for drug task forces and 
treatment programs for drug offenders, state officials have said. At 
stake in the next budget debate is money that pays for everything 
from undercover drug agents to meth treatment to bullet-proof vests.

State officials acknowledge that drug arrests, which had been at a 
high point, have begun to decline since Iowa clamped down on 
meth-making last year. Drug offenses overall are down 6 percent since 
a new state law that greatly restricted the sale of meth's main 
ingredient, pseudoephedrine, took effect in May 2005.

However, imported drugs -- especially crystal meth -- remain 
abundant. Law enforcement officials say their ability to catch 
traffickers hinges greatly on the federal money.

"This is being done to law enforcement in the name of homeland 
security," said Polk County Attorney John Sarcone. "But there really 
is no greater homeland security need than trying to stop our society 
from crumbling within."

Walters tried to paint a more hopeful picture.

During a news conference with Gov. Tom Vilsack and afterward, he 
commended state and local officials for leading what has become an 
international effort to place much tighter restrictions on sales of 
pseudoephedrine. He thanked them for passing a law that has reduced 
meth labs by 76 percent in Iowa and paved the way for state and 
national legislators to take similar action.

"You have given an enormous gift to the country," Walters said.

Although terrorism and the federal deficit are forcing tough budget 
decisions, he said, the federal government is making progress in the 
drug war -- particularly on the meth front.

Mexico has reached an agreement with the United States to quit 
importing much more pseudoephedrine than it legitimately needs. Talks 
are continuing with ambassadors in China, Germany and India - 
pseudoephedrine's three key producers -- to prevent the mass 
diversion of pseudoephedrine to meth makers in Mexico, Asia and elsewhere.

"In a sense, we have taken what you've done in Iowa and made it 
global," he said.

Walters said he understood the angst but added that states also need 
to do their part.

"Look, if these are really front-line and vital priorities, then 
leaders at all levels of government need to put first things first," he said.

On Tuesday afternoon, a measure proposed by Democrats that would have 
offered up $1.1 million in state money to offset some previous 
federal cuts to Iowa's drug task forces failed in a party-line vote 
in the Iowa House.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman