COUNTIES STEP UP BATTLE AGAINST METH

As the drug methamphetamine, or meth, continues its spread eastward,
Central Wisconsin law enforcement officials are fighting its
prevalence by educating the public about cleanup and its dangers.

After three meth sites were discovered in Clark County in the last
seven months, the county is taking action.

"It was our supervisors that said we need to get the word out to the
public," said Investigator Scott Haines of the Clark County Sheriff
Department and member of the West Central Drug Task Force.

Clark County is following a general state trend. In 2000, only 26 meth
labs were seized, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency figures.
In 2001, 45 labs were found and the number more than doubled to 101 in
2003. The number fell to 74 last year.

"We decided to educate the public on the hazards," he said. "It's
slowly creeping across the state (from counties to our west)."

As a means of education, Clark County and its 4-H Youth Development
Program are holding an informational meeting for groups conducting
roadside pickup that are concerned about discarded methamphetamine lab
paraphernalia at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Greenwood High School cafetorium.

Symptoms from contact with meth sites include respiratory and eye
irritation, dizziness, headaches and shortness of breath, Haines said.

Many counties, such as Wood, are taking measures to teach emergency
medical services and fire departments how to respond to a site
contaminated with byproducts of meth manufacturing.

"We have given presentations to some of the rural volunteers fire
departments in the county to make them aware of the ingredients that
are used as precursors for the creation of meth" over the past two
years, said Lt. Bob Levendoske of the Wood County Sheriff Department.

The department is aware of the growing problem in the county, but
Levendoske said until the statistics of meth's infiltration are
readily apparent, "people are going to think we're crying wolf."

A handful of sites have been seized in the past two years, but he
predicted that number will rise as people begin to better recognize
the signs.

One solution to meth addiction, although costly, is a six-month to
one-year in-house treatment course, Levendoske said. "This is
potentially easily assessable drug and the damage it does to humans
and society is so intense that solutions are not easy to come by."

Taylor County Sheriff Jack Kay said in the last two years a state
speaker has been brought in to educate parents, teachers and fire
departments. Three sites were sanitized last year in Taylor County

Both Levendoske and Kay encouraged any citizen groups interested in
meth education by their departments to call.