METH STRIKE FORCE DESERVES SUPPORT

Coalition Of Law Enforcement Agencies Fights Drug Successfully

Marion County's methamphetamine dealers have moved up in the world -
from mom-and-pop operations to full-fledged drug cartels.

Fortunately, local police departments have an ally in pursuing them:
the Meth Strike Force, a partnership of police agencies and courts
that arrests mid-level dealers and holds them accountable.

The group is made up of seasoned drug officers from Salem, Keizer,
Woodburn and Marion County, plus a prosecutor who sees their cases
through court. But this year-and-a-half-old force has helped rural
Marion County as well.

For one thing, meth dealers don't recognize city limits. They sell to
any addict with money. The high cost of meth fuels much of the
Mid-Valley's property crime and identity theft. Residents throughout
the county want this to stop. For another, the Meth Strike Force has
fostered collaboration among all of Marion County's law enforcement
agencies. Last May, when a multi-agency drug bust moved in on eight
Salem-area homes, arresting seven suspects and seizing 1.5 pounds of
meth, just about every police force took part. No one community has
the resources for such a raid, but everyone benefits when it can be
pulled off.

However, the Meth Strike Force comes with a price tag. Last year,
public-spirited businesspeople paid the entire tab because they were
so fed up with meth's toll. This year, the strike force is asking
donors to raise $150,000; local governments will match that amount.

The cause is a good one. Already this partnership has meant more
arrests, more meth pulled off the street, more drug dealers
successfully prosecuted and more children placed in foster care.

That makes a difference to Marion County residents, because everyone
is affected somehow by trafficking in meth. You may be victimized by
property crimes, like the hundreds of people whose valuables were
discovered recently in a rural building near Gervais. Your car may
get stolen by an addict looking for cash.

You may discover that metal pipe is missing from your farm, or
bleachers from your high school sports field. Your car may crash
because some meth-head has torn up valuable guard rail from a lonely
curve.

Your taxes pay to care for drug-addicted jail and prison inmates, for
school children with drug-related learning disabilities, for the
state's thinly stretched protective-care system.

The Meth Strike Force can make life difficult for drug dealers - not
only in cities, but in Marion County's smallest towns.

That's a goal worth investing in.