EDUCATION PROGRAM ABOUT DRUG TO EXPAND TO UP TO 10 MORE CITIES IN STATE

SIOUX FALLS -- A program that backers say has boosted awareness in Lincoln
and Minnehaha counties of the dangers of methamphetamine will use federal
money to expand to six to 10 more communities.

The Department of Justice will provide $600,000 for the Meth Awareness and
Prevention Project in the state, U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., local law
enforcement officers and a drug abuse prevention specialist announced in a
news conference Monday.

"This is a life and death issue for parents," Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike
Milstead said. "It's a deadly substance."

The goal over the year of the funding is to create a network of specialists
to educate people about the addictive drug, its effects, and how to know if
it is being produced in their areas -- and to prevent the use and
manufacture of meth, said Darcy Jensen of Prairie View Prevention Services
in Sioux Falls.

She said she hopes the successes in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties can be
replicated elsewhere.

The Sioux Falls-area program has been funded in large part through
donations from area foundations, Jensen said, but some remote parts of the
state need the federal money to make it work there.

"When you're someplace like Lemmon, S.D., ... they don't have the same
resources we do," she said.

Drug abuse agencies and county sheriff's departments have been sent surveys
about what they need in terms of education about meth and how to check its
growth. A panel will pick the sites for the program.

Jensen noted that a recent area meeting had attracted 70 business and
community leaders and provided them with information about meth. Some have
since called back and asked for more training within their communities,
Jensen said.

"We've created a base of education here," she said.

The issue has drawn more attention after a recent meth-related shooting in
Colton, north of Sioux Falls. Bill C. Thompson Sr., 48, was shot June 27 by
police after allegedly firing 14 shots into a semi.

Police say they later found a remarkably sophisticated meth lab at his
home, complete with police scanners and night vision surveillance cameras.

Thompson allegedly pulled his vehicle next to a parked livestock truck on a
county road and shot at the man and woman inside. Thompson then fled and
after a short chase with deputies, he ended up back at the semi and again
shot into the truck, authorities said.

That's when the deputy fired one round at him. He is being held on assault
charges. He is believed to have a relationship with one person in the truck.

Meth production has been spreading across the Midwest in recent years, said
Larry Long, chief deputy attorney general for South Dakota.

"I think it's hard to understate the significance of methamphetamine," he
said in a phone interview Monday. "A pretty good example is the deal down
in Colton."

Meth can make users unpredictable and prone to violence, Long said.

Daschle said it's important to act before the problem becomes entrenched.

"We have to commit the resources now to head off the threat," he said at
the news conference by video feed from Washington.

The statewide program through the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse will
use a range of methods, including media campaigns and working with parents,
coaches and community leaders.