EXPERTS DISCUSS 3 KEYS TO TACKLING METH SCOURGE

Imprisonment alone won't solve Iowa's methamphetamine problem. Nor
treatment or prevention, according to experts gathered by The Des Moines
Register.

"You have to use all three - every one is very, very important," said Mark
Hine, an agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. "You have to have
consequences for people. At the same time, individuals that are using it,
you have to help them. And you have to get the message out."

The Register invited a handful of state and federal officials to discuss
ways to tackle Iowa's meth epidemic. Former users also shared their ideas.

A number of those present expressed interest in tougher restrictions on the
sale of cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine and other items used to
make meth. They also pointed to education.

"We need to educate to get the mind-set straight that this drug is going to
mess up your life," said Ken Carter, director of the Iowa Division of
Narcotics Enforcement.

"We keep hoping it's going to burn itself out," said Dr. Dennis Weis,
medical director of the Powell Chemical Dependency Center in Des Moines.
"But we don't see an end in sight."