METH MADNESS: DOWNFALL OF DA SHOULD PROMPT REFORM

If legislators needed Exhibit A to push new laws aimed at methamphetamine
abuse, what could be more compelling than a district attorney in handcuffs?

The story of Gray County DA Rick Roach's ruination is emblematic of the
state's rampaging problem with the illegal stimulant: a man living a shadow
life because of the addictive drug, his career wrecked, a prison term ahead.

Action by lawmakers is overdue - and trailing other states - to help subdue
quickie manufacture of the drug. But the legislation finally introduced by
a number of lawmakers sends the proper, zero-tolerance message to meth makers.

One proposed law would help prevent Texas from being used as the source of
the over-the-counter cold medicine pseudoephedrine, a key chemical for
making meth. New laws limiting pills sales in Oklahoma have sent meth
makers south, and parts of Texas have felt overrun in recent months.

Three weeks ago in Mesquite, authorities arrested an Oklahoma couple with
900 pills in their car. Officers in Wichita Falls have seen carloads of
cold-pill buyers use maps to work the area and amass thousands of pills for
meth-making.

That activity would be a felony under a package of bills introduced by Sen.
Craig Estes of Wichita Falls. Other measures would stiffen penalties for
small-time manufacture - something easily done in a Coke bottle - to ensure
prison time.

As for the cold pills, the Estes package would dramatically cut down on
availability by allowing purchase of pseudoephedrine pills only by
prescription. The proposal is sure to rile retailers, but they have an
acceptable option: sell gel forms of the cold remedy. Law enforcement
experts say the gel form cannot be used in making the type of kitchen-sink
meth that has caused suffering for so many Texas families whose loved ones
are in the drug's grip.

Officers offer uncounted testimonials about how addicts lie, cheat, steal
and prostitute themselves because of their habit. For that reason we
applaud legislation by Sen. Jane Nelson to establish an "amphetamine watch"
to head off manufacture and a separate initiative to identify families in
need of help.