OFFICIALS MUST CONTINUE TOUGH ATTACK ON METH

There's a cruel new epidemic threatening West Virginia, and sadly Huntington
and Cabell County aren't exempt from the devastation it brings with it.
We're talking about the spread of methamphetamine -- an increasingly popular
illegal drug.

Unfortunately, the stuff is relatively easy and inexpensive to make, and
goodness knows there's an eager market for it.

In recent days, law enforcement authorities have busted four meth labs in
Cabell County. That brings the county's total to at least 10 meth labs
discovered and put out of business thus far this year. Statewide, the figure
is 160 labs.

Last week, four men were arrested in two separate incidents. First,
sheriff's deputies found a meth lab in the trunk of a car at a Milton home
supply business. Later, deputies found another lab in a bathroom of a mobile
home in Ona.

Early Monday morning, state police made four arrests in connection with an
illegal lab in Milton. And early Monday evening, the Huntington Violent
Crime and Drug Task Force made another arrest when they found a lab upstairs
in a building on Huntigton's 9th Street plaza.

We commend law enforcement authorities for their efforts and urge that they
remain vigilant and aggressive where this spreading epidemic is concerned.

The latest arrests should remove any doubt that Huntington and Cabell County
have a serious meth problem, one that if not attacked full force, can only
get worse. That must not be allowed to happen.