DRUG WAR CUTBACKS COULD CURB METH EFFORTS

APPLETON - Law enforcement officials contend that funding cutbacks at the
state and federal levels will jeopardize efforts to battle the growing
problem of methamphetamine.

As the two-day Wisconsin Summit on Methamphetamine got under way Tuesday at
the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, a recurring theme was the threat posed to
drug-enforcement efforts by funding cuts and a proposed property tax freeze.

"Nobody is dealing with the resource issue," Attorney General Peg
Lautenschlager said in her speech opening the conference and later in
remarks to reporters.

Dubbed "domestic cocaine" or "poor man's cocaine," methamphetamine can be
inhaled, smoked, ingested or injected and goes by the names of speed, crank
or ice.

It is highly addictive and relatively easy, although dangerous, to manufacture.

Lautenschlager, a Democrat, said law enforcement is "facing a declining
infusion of funds" and noted that local efforts will be hurt by a
Republican-proposed property-tax freeze.

The summit brings together professionals from a variety of disciplines to
craft strategies to combat methamphetamine.

Bradley Dunlap, coordinator of the Neenah-based Lake Winnebago Area
Multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Group - one of 33 such units in the state
- - expressed concerns over possible cutbacks in federal grants known as
Byrne Grants.

Presenters at the conference noted the unique characteristics of
methamphetamine. It is predominately made and distributed in rural and
less-populated areas of the state, areas that have limited law enforcement
resources and are more dependent on the work of the MEG units.

MEG units draw upon trained personnel from several law enforcement agencies
in a pooled arrangement. Outagamie County Sheriff Brad Gehring said the
impending loss of the federal funds will fall on the shoulders of the
participating counties and municipalities.

Luke Punzenberger, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Hobart, said
Green is committed to keeping the Byrne Grants funded.