GOP CALLS ON BUSH TO AID METH FIGHT

Proposed Funding Cuts, Lack Of Plan To Control Drug Panned

WASHINGTON -- Republicans on a key drug panel scolded the Bush
administration Tuesday for proposing budget cuts in programs that combat
methamphetamine.

"Stop cutting the budget for methamphetamine and back up the Congress,"
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., told Scott Burns, an official at White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy at a hearing.

"Our frustration is building because meth is moving west to east, from
rural to small cities to larger cities. When it hits it overwhelms us,"
Souder said.

Souder is chairman of the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources
Subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee.

Republican lawmakers also criticized the Bush administration for failing to
develop a comprehensive plan to control meth.

"I don't hear anything that looks like a plan," warned Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.

Burns, who is deputy director of state and local affairs for the White
House drug office, said, "I'll deliver the message."

Burns said he agrees the administration needs to develop a national
strategy to control meth but stopped short of calling methamphetamine an
epidemic.

The nation's 1.5 million meth addicts represent only about 8 percent of the
nation's 19 million drug users, according to federal estimates.

But meth is the fastest growing drug problem, is extremely addictive and
creates other special problems such as abandoned children and hazardous wastes.

The Bush administration has proposed eliminating funding for some meth
programs and slashing funds for others.

The president wants to eliminate a $634 million grant program for state and
local police departments used to bolster anti-drug task forces and cut
anti-drug spending in High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas from $226
million to $100 million.

He also would reduce spending on a Justice Department methamphetamine
initiative from $52.6 million to $20 million, a 60 percent cut.

Meanwhile, Congress is attempting to restore the proposed cutbacks.