NEW TOOLS TO FIGHT METH

As More Methamphetamine Labs Are Raided, The State Adds Two Vehicles With
Decontamination Equipment

State authorities are fighting the rapid spread of the dangerous drug
methamphetamine with more tools: two new crime-response trucks full of gear
that agents need to bust chemical-filled meth production labs. State
investigators are raiding meth labs at the rate of about one a day.

Gov. Mike Easley said Wednesday that the Governor's Crime Commission will
pay the $502,166 cost of the two ambulance-size Ford trucks and their
equipment, including decontamination showers, chemical-protective suits,
gas detectors, air tanks, gloves, computers and video cameras.

The State Bureau of Investigation already has three such vehicles. The
commission plans to buy two more in each of the next two years, so that
each of the SBI's eight districts will have one, with a ninth vehicle
roaming the state.

North Carolina's meth production is surging. Five years ago, the SBI found
nine meth labs. Last year, it found 177. In the first three months of this
year, it found 89.

Not only can meth users become paranoid and violent, but the drug's
manufacture also produces hazardous waste and can cause explosions. People
often make it secretly at home around young children, who are exposed to
the fumes and possible injury.

"It's the biggest threat to every community in North Carolina," Easley said
at a news conference outside the state Capitol, where he and Attorney
General Roy Cooper stood before one of the older trucks. "It's important
that we give law enforcement and first responders the tools they need to
combat this illicit drug, and at the same time keep them safe."

Easley said he's joining Cooper's push for tougher prison sentences for
people who produce and sell "crystal meth," an illegal, addictive stimulant
cooked up using common cold medicine and household chemicals in kitchens,
hotel rooms and remote shacks.

"If you put children and communities at risk with methamphetamine, you're
going to prison for a long, long time," said Easley, Cooper's predecessor
as attorney general and a former district attorney in Southport. "If you
put law enforcement at risk, you're going to prison for a lot longer than
you used to."

Cooper said that he thinks the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Commission will
support increasing the meth penalties, despite prison crowding, because the
drug leads to violence and destruction. "If we have to build more prisons
for methamphetamine manufacturers, we will do it," Easley said. "We're not
going to allow people to blow up houses, and abuse and neglect children."

Cooper stepped up the SBI's war against meth in January. He called for
tougher laws, closer monitoring of sales of cold medicines that can be used
as meth ingredients, better training for law enforcers and help for social
service agencies caring for children found around meth labs -- 69 last year.

"Methamphetamine is not only destroying bodies and brains, it's destroying
families and communities," Cooper said Wednesday. "We expect the problem
only to escalate. Having more of these [trucks] is critical."

SBI Agent Brian Neil of Greensboro, who uses one such vehicle, agreed.

"Without this truck, it's almost impossible," Neil said. "It cuts down on
the time we're on the scene, and we have all the tools we need in one place."

Easley and Cooper, both Democrats, are seeking re-election this fall to
four-year terms. If both win, Cooper will be a leading candidate in 2008 to
succeed Easley as governor.

Their personalities differ, but Easley and Cooper support many of the same
policies, including their crime-fighting strategies. And, as they did
Wednesday, they often dress alike -- conservatively. For the news
conference, they wore matching elected-leader uniforms: navy suits, white
shirts, red ties, black shoes. The governor took it up a notch with his
U.S. flag lapel pin.

Easley said of Cooper, "I look forward to working with him on this very
important project."