OWENS URGES AUTHORITIES TO GET TOUGH ON METH USE

Friday, March 07, 2003 - Gov. Bill Owens called methamphetamine use the new
challenge facing authorities during a brief speech Thursday morning before
an international law enforcement group. Addressing the National
Methamphetamine Conference, an organization of police and prosecutors from
the United States and Canada, Owens said tough prison terms lead to a drop
in crime.

"Some say we can't afford to incarcerate people who prey on the public,"
Owens said. "I think we can't afford not to."

Owens said drug use is not a victimless crime and vowed to push for
additional laws to fight the spread of meth.

"What you deal with in this conference is the most important topic in law
enforcement - how to deal with the challenge of methamphetamine," Owens said.

Owens said the fight against meth might be more difficult than past battles
against the heroin and cocaine trade.

Those drugs, he said, are smuggled into the country and are hard to produce.

Methamphetamine, however, can be cooked up inside a home with common,
over-the-counter materials.

"(Heroin and cocaine) are expensive, and they don't become an easy drug of
choice for Middle America," he said. "Methamphetamine, though, is far, far
different, and far more insidious."