MEXICAN GANGS CITED IN METH RISE

WASHINGTON -- Federal and state officials told a congressional panel
Thursday that methamphetamine is a growing problem across the nation and
one of the largest narcotics issues.

Joseph Keefe, chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, said one of the latest trends with methamphetamine is that
Mexican-based drug organizations dominate the trafficking of the drug by
using large-scale laboratories in Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Keefe estimated that 70 to 90 percent of U.S. meth production and
distribution is controlled by Mexican-based groups operating out of Mexico
and California.

The House Government Reform Subcommittee that oversees the nation's drug
policy discussed the meth problem with a panel of state, local and national
officers at the beginning of a series of hearings to study narcotics and
other drugs considered "emerging threats."

Committee Chairman Mark Souder, R-Ind., said the hearings will bring
attention to problems and examine the effectiveness of existing policies.

Souder said research shows that small meth labs are settling in rural areas.

"These labs are of immediate concern because they make almost every county
in America its own source for a powerful drug of addiction with
unpredictable effects -- along with all of the accompanying negative
consequences, including violent crime and environmental damage," Souder said.

Keefe mentioned Oklahoma as one of the states with a large number of labs.
Overall, California produces more meth than any other region, but Oklahoma
was one of the states with more secret meth lab production per capita in 2000.

Indiana, California and Washington law officials told their stories of
dealing with meth to show its growing threat and their frustration trying
to solve the problems.

Chief Deputy Doug Harp of Noble County, Ind., described a case in which a
juvenile addicted to meth carried her stillborn child in a duffel bag for
several weeks. He said meth arrests are so common in his county that they
are rarely considered news.

"In my lifetime I don't believe that rural America has ever had to deal
with anything as destructive and costly as meth," Harp said. "It is
destroying communities morally, spiritually and financially and it is my
belief that it has not yet peaked. Usage will continue to grow and
availability of the drug will reach epic proportions."

Meth labs have become a rural-backyard issue with mom-and-pop production
organizations housed in rural mobile homes and houses, said Ron Brooks,
chairman of the National Narcotics Associations Coalition.

The law enforcement officers proposed that they be given more funding and
training. Moreover, they suggested tougher penalties for meth users and
producers. The law enforcement officials agreed that treatment for meth
users wasn't helpful. Sheriff John McCroskey of Louis County, Wash., said
drug treatment for meth addicts is "a dismal failure."

Susan Rook, a former drug addict and now Step One public affairs director,
said the fight against drugs can be controlled by early drug treatment and
drug education.