POLICE WRESTLE WITH METH

Clermont Receives Grant To Combat The Drug

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann will be in town Monday to announce a
major campaign against methamphetamine, which Sheriff A.J. "Tim"
Rodenberg said is the most devastating illegal drug in Clermont County.

Dann lined up a $450,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department to
help police in Clermont County battle meth, Rodenberg said.

That's about $100,000 more than the annual budget of the Clermont
County Narcotics Task Force, and Rodenberg said it will be the largest
grant his office has received in his 11 years as sheriff.

"It's going to be most helpful," Rodenberg said. "Meth used in any
amount is devastating ... probably the most devastating drug as far as
eating up the human body. It attacks the organs and the teeth - the
facial construction even. It attacks the muscle fiber."

A stimulant that affects the central nervous system, meth can also
cause sores, acne, premature aging, paranoia, violent behavior and
hallucinations, according to the attorney general's office.

"There was zero meth before 2000," Rodenberg said of Clermont County.
"It was almost like a virus that spread here. ... We've seen it
everywhere. We've seen (meth labs) within a mile of Eastgate Mall in
Union Township. We've had them in Miami Township. We've had them near
Loveland."

"It's not just a bunch of hicks in the hollers - they're in
middle-class neighborhoods," Rodenberg said.

Meth is relatively easy to manufacture from cold medications and comes
in many forms, the sheriff said.

"In many cases, people manufacture meth just for their own use and for
friends and family," Rodenberg said. "Sometimes they're discovered
because people start smelling noxious fumes coming from a house or see
some unusual activity - they're right on the street where you live."

Users can snort, smoke, inject or swallow the drug. It's highly
addictive, and users sometimes steal to obtain money so they can buy
more.

While most meth users are men in their 30s or 40s, part of the funds
from the federal grant will go to educate the general public -
including children - about the dangers of the drug, the sheriff said.

"We haven't seen it anywhere in or around our school systems yet in
Clermont County," Rodenberg said. "It would be a death sentence ...
for young children."

The grant will also pay for equipment, training and the cost of
staffing investigations, Rodenberg said.

This year, the Clermont County Narcotics Task Force has raided 14 meth
labs and arrested 36 people on meth-related charges through Aug. 30,
according to the sheriff's office. Last year, the task force raided 30
labs and arrested 81 people on meth-related charges.

The numbers have dropped from highs in 2005, when 42 labs were busted
and 88 people arrested on meth-related charges.

That's attributed to new laws that make it tougher to obtain
over-the-counter cold remedies and increased policing by the Clermont
County Narcotics Task Force, which is operated by the sheriff but
includes officers from Union Township, Miami Township and Milford.

"We seem to have a grip on the problem - it's not getting worse,"
Rodenberg said. "The amount of labs is not going up."

Drug users aren't the only ones endangered by meth labs. Ingredients
such as battery acid, lighter fluid, iodine, peroxide, paint thinner
and drain cleaner can prove a dangerous mixture.

"We've had a couple incidents where buildings have erupted into flames
and exploded," Rodenberg said. While nobody has been killed in
Clermont County by such blasts, some have been injured, he said.

Clermont County was one of only four areas in Ohio to be approved for
such a grant to battle meth, Rodenberg said. Highland County,
Ashtabula County and the city of Akron also are to receive grants.