DRUG TASK FORCES MUST BE FULLY FUNDED

Law enforcement efforts in Southern Illinois over the last few years
have made significant progress in the fight against methamphetamine
and other illegal drug use and trafficking.

A report released last summer by Southern Illinois University tracked
law enforcement efforts against what had been described as a meth
epidemic in the region. Here are some of the findings:

l The number of meth labs put out of business by law enforcement from
1997 to 2005 increased by 19,000 percent.

l Grams of meth seized by police from 1994 to 2003 in Franklin,
Jackson, Saline and Williamson counties increased by about 16,690 percent.

l Meth-related treatment admissions increased by 7,400 percent in
Franklin County; 7,200 percent in Jackson County; and 2,400 percent in
Williamson County.

Those numbers may sound too good to be true, but here is the qualifier
that accompanied the release of the SIU study. The initial starting
point was essentially zero when law enforcement began seriously
tracking the first busts, seizures and treatment admissions in
Southern Illinois.

There always will be some critics of law enforcement strategies
against drug abuse, but statistics prove arrests, seizures and
drug-related medical emergencies are effective in curbing drug
trafficking and abuse. Treatment experts in Southern Illinois say the
meth problem still exists, but is not as severe as it was a few years
ago.

That's what is so troubling about funding cuts for drug enforcement
efforts that are part of the Bush Administration's proposed budget for
2009.

As reported Sunday in this newspaper, each year 20 state drug task
force units split about $2.8 million in federal grants to fund drug
enforcement efforts. But funding could be halted for 12 of those 20
units in the next year if the proposed 2009 budget is approved.

One of those units is the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force, which
serves Alexander, Massac, Hardin, Gallatin, Saline, Franklin,
Hamilton, White, Wayne and Wabash counties.

The idea of controlling expenses is commendable at all levels of
government. Fiscal restraint is a positive attribute, especially for
the sprawling and ever-growing federal budget.

But this is not the right time or the right place to cut the budget.
Southern Illinois is making real progress in the fight against meth
and other drug abuse. Let's keep our drug fighters fully funded and
equipped.