KEEP POLICE EYES ON EASY-TO-MAKE DRUG

Most of us think of drug production as something that happens in Colombia.
However, drug labs are springing up in Illinois faster than subdivisions in
the suburbs.

In 1997, authorities discovered 24 illegal labs producing methamphetamine.
In 1999, they nabbed 246 such labs. That's a tenfold increase in just two
years.

It gets worse. The Illinois State Police expect to seize more than 400 labs
this year.

The problem is growing because methamphetamine is relatively easy to make.
It is also addictive.

Meth, as the drug is called, can be created from many common household or
easily available commercial items. Setting up a laboratory is relatively
simple. That makes producing this drug easy, but policing it a nightmare.
It would be hard for law enforcement to find every basement or garage
converted into a facility for making meth.

Meth hasn't hit it big yet in the Chicago area, due to the supply of
relatively cheap cocaine. But we urge Illinois State Police to keep closing
down producers in the rest of the state, lest meth start seeping into our
area, too.