METH: THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES

Gov. Janet Napolitano Jun. 10, 2007 12:00 AM Meth is everywhere and
affects every part of every Arizona community: law enforcement,
schools, health care providers and businesses.

Statistics make the problem clear:

Over the past decade, more Arizonans have sought treatment for
addiction to meth-related substances than for any other illicit drug.
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Treatment admissions for methamphetamine-related drugs have increased
253 percent from 2002 to 2005.

According to the 2006 Arizona Youth Survey, more than 3,000 Arizona
middle- and high-school students reported using meth at least once in
the 30 days prior to being surveyed.

Any discussion of substance-abuse prevention, prosecution and
treatment has to acknowledge that meth is not a singular problem;
there are serious issues associated with everything from alcohol
abuse to prescription-drug addiction to meth. But because meth use is
up and because the drug is so highly addictive and destructive, we
need to prioritize and focus to have a real effect. Arizona's
priority right now is meth.

And although we have activated an expansive statewide meth-reduction
plan, meth abuse remains a public health crisis and is a threat to
public safety. Traffickers are often violent criminals, and
manufacturers cheat and steal as a regular part of their business.
Equally devastating is the effect the drug has on children.

I mean not only those children born into addiction but also the
children who must live with addicts - often forgotten while their
parents go on a high that can last for days. The drug strains law
enforcement, child-welfare systems and treatment providers.

To compound the problem, Arizona's proximity to Mexico makes us a
principal port of entry for drug smuggling. According to the Drug
Enforcement Administration, Mexican-produced methamphetamine is the
most predominant type of the drug encountered in Arizona. When law
enforcement officers across the nation make meth arrests, their
inquiries often lead them back to Arizona.

We have taken extraordinary steps to attack meth in Arizona.
Coordinated statewide highway enforcement operations have led to the
seizure of significant quantities of drugs and the sharing of
intelligence data.

Recently, the Arizona Department of Public Safety announced that a
series of unrelated traffic stops during May resulted in the seizure
of 18 pounds of meth worth tens of thousands of dollars on the street.

We must continue to devote time and resources to law enforcement, but
enforcement alone won't conquer the problems created by the meth
trade. As with so many issues, the full-spectrum approach is most
effective, and that's the approach we've implemented in Arizona.

In 2006, I created a methamphetamine task force and charged members
with identifying specific action-oriented recommendations with the
goal of eradicating meth use in Arizona and building safe and healthy
meth-free communities throughout the state.

Just a few weeks ago, the task force released its report, "A Plan for
Action: Addressing the Methamphetamine Crisis in Arizona."

The action steps are science-based strategies that focus on the
general themes of prevention, treatment and law enforcement, with
additional recommendations specific to environmental cleanup and the workplace.

The plan is unique because it attacks meth from every angle. The plan includes:

Coordinating resources through a single statewide point of contact.

Putting specialists in schools to implement prevention strategies.

Stopping cross-national trafficking of precursor chemicals.

Expanding treatment availability for adult and juvenile offenders.

Implementing a rapid-response system when a meth lab is discovered to
reduce the impact of the poisonous chemicals on the environment.

Our meth plan includes 10 priority recommendations, and work to
implement them has already begun.

In February, I contacted federal Homeland Security chief Michael
Chertoff and called for immediate intervention in the semilegal
traffic of the cold medicine pseudoephedrine that is used to make meth.

Those shipments travel from China to Mexico, often with a legal stop
at the Port of Los Angeles. The amount of pseudoephedrine that
finally reaches Mexico is four times the amount the country needs to
treat head colds. This has to stop.

Further, my office has applied for a $7 million federal grant to
expand treatment services through enhancement of drug courts
statewide and is funding 22 meth coalitions representing each county
and six tribes.

The work of the meth coalitions is grass-roots, and it is important.
Recently, a concerned citizen from Gilbert met with my Division for
Substance Abuse Policy. Her personal story was compelling; she
overcame her own substance-abuse problems and now sees the
devastation that meth causes in the schools and neighborhoods around
her. We were able to put her in touch with her local meth coalition,
where her experience will now become a valuable tool.

These local approaches unite law enforcement officials, treatment
professionals, parents, school personnel, businesses and others in
the fight against meth.

National leaders have called Arizona's multisystem approach
"unprecedented," and they have declared our state a leader in the war
on meth. Yet it is only a start. Communities must come together and
make a commitment to attack the meth problem on every front.

Individuals who want to become involved in these efforts can contact
their local coalitions through my office or the Division for
Substance Abuse Policy, (602) 542-3456, or can visit http://gocyf.az.
gov/SAP/documents/AntiMethCoaltionContactList.pdf.

If we work together and refuse to give up, we can end the
devastation, get treatment for those who need it and stop the
traffickers who do so much harm.

Janet Napolitano is serving her second term as governor.