CONTINUE, EXPAND FIGHT AGAINST METH

Methamphetamine, a most addictive and destructive substance, is no
longer flowing out of a meth lab located in a home next door, or from
a motel room or building down the street. Instead, it is streaming
across the U.S.-Mexican border and into the Portland region in
seemingly greater quantities than before.

One possible response to this trend might be for citizens to throw up
their hands and say that all of Oregon's efforts to control
methamphetamine have been for naught - that it is futile to try to
stamp out this scourge.

That would be exactly the wrong reaction.

Rather, the latest news about meth should be viewed as evidence that a
focused and collaborative approach by citizens, legislators and
law-enforcement officers can make an appreciable difference in the war
against meth.

It was in 2005 that state legislators passed a law making it more
difficult to obtain cold medicines that contain the main ingredient
used to manufacture meth.

By at least one measure, the law has been a spectacular success - the
number of meth-lab busts, once a daily occurrence, has plummeted in
Oregon to a mere 14 this year.

But the progress hasn't been without unwelcome consequences. Now that
meth isn't available from local labs, Mexican drug cartels have
stepped in to increase supplies. And Washington County law-enforcement
officers say that as much methamphetamine, possibly even more, is
available now.

"What we are seeing is the residue," said Jim Wolf of the Tigard
Police Department. "They (drug users) are consuming it as fast as they
get it."

No one can argue that eliminating the labs was a bad
thing.

Fewer labs mean the toxic chemicals used by meth cooks threaten fewer
neighbors. Fewer meth labs means fewer children are growing up abused
and neglected within homes where manufacturing a drug was the only
thing on their parents' minds.

But no one should be lulled into thinking that the human costs of meth
and drug addiction have disappeared. Meth still is creating new
addicts each day at a great cost to individual users and society as a
whole. Meanwhile Wolf and Beaverton Police Sgt. Paul Wandell say
police officers are seeing a renewed and increased use of heroine and
cocaine in Washington County.

That's why it's important that one victory against illegal drugs - the
virtual elimination of meth labs in Oregon - must lead to a new round
of action. Even now, U.S. pressure on the Mexican government to crack
down on meth is having an effect: Prices of imported meth are up, and
purity is down. Oregon's congressional delegation must insist that the
pressure on Mexico remains unrelenting.

Similarly, the Oregon Legislature must revisit the issue and determine
how the state can combat imported meth and trafficking of all drugs.
Lawmakers already have increased Oregon State Police staffing - an
agency that ought to be involved in interrupting the transportation of
drugs into and around the state.

But surely the most effective tool against imported meth and other
drugs would be to decrease demand. And that's where all citizens,
especially parents, can help by knowing the warning signs of drug use
and by supporting community-based education and treatment programs.
For example, on Friday, many groups working against meth are marking,
for the second year, what they call Methamphetamine Awareness Day.

Such an observance is a timely reminder that despite progress in the
war against meth, this and other terribly addictive drugs still are
stealing too many lives.