LEWIS COUNTY STILL STRUGGLING WITH METH LABS

CHEHALIS, Wash. - Lewis County, midway between Seattle and Portland
on the Interstate 5 corridor, has a population of 68,600, a
struggling economy - and a booming methamphetamine business.

Lewis County ranked first in the state last year on a per-capita
basis for the number of residents admitted to state-funded programs
for treatment of methamphetamine dependence.

County officials blame meth for the growing number of children in
foster care, and say meth-related crimes are straining their already
threadbare budget.

And Lewis County's not alone. Washington state had the second-most
meth-lab seizures in the nation last year, according to federal Drug
Enforcement Agency figures.

While urban Pierce County is considered the center for meth use in
the state, hundreds of meth labs are scattered across rural areas in
the Okanogan, in the sagebrush lands past Yakima, the Cascade forests
and ocean beaches.

Federal and state officials say many meth makers nationwide are
turning to rural areas, which offer the safety of remote locations
for manufacturing and a growing number of customers.

Meth use in Lewis County dramatically increased during the 1990s,
authorities say, when much of the region's public land was closed off
to logging and mills closed. Average wages - which were close to the
statewide average just 20 years ago - fell to about 70 percent.

"People get caught up in a sense of hopelessness, of watching their
futures fall apart," Lewis County Sheriff John McCroskey said.

In the past three years, authorities found 99 lab and chemical dump
sites in the county, including a few operations with ties to
international trafficking rings. In the first six months of this
year, 33 new sites were found. From 1990 to 1997, only 30 were
discovered.

One meth maker allegedly cooked chemicals in a conference-room
microwave in the Mug Tree Cafe, a popular gathering spot for county
officials.

In nine years, the number of Lewis County children in foster care has
grown from 5.68 to 8.43 per 1,000 - double the state average.
Officials say many are neglected children of meth users so strung out
they ignore basic duties, such as feeding their families.

Gary Hurness, a state Department of Corrections official, estimates
that 70 percent of the felony crimes in Lewis County during the past
year were linked to meth use.

Lewis County officials estimate that 70 percent of their operating
budget goes to law enforcement and court costs. The county has little
money to spare and recently was forced to eliminate the parks and
recreation department's youth programs division.

This month, voters will consider a $17 million bond measure to expand
and renovate the jail.