EDUCATION, REHAB BEST WAYS TO WIN METH BATTLE

Recent headlines have dealt with the efforts of area law enforcement to deal
with the growing problem of methamphetamine addiction in West Tennessee.
It's encouraging to see officers cracking down on this deadly epidemic. Now,
it's time to take the next step. Communities need to step up education
efforts, both for area merchants, and for West Tennessee's school children.
Law enforcement groups and local communities also should begin lobbying the
General Assembly to finally address the lack of rehabilitation programs in
Tennessee.

On Thursday, a West Tennessee drug task force arrested three people in
Gibson County and charged them with various drug charges, including
conspiracy to manufacture meth. The same day in Henderson County, a woman
was arrested after authorities found three ounces of a drug thought to be
meth in her home. And on Friday, a Madison County man died of injuries
suffered when a meth lab caught fire in his home.

To fight this problem, authorities should take a three-pronged approach.
First, they must continue to shut down meth labs. Next, they should redouble
education efforts. Authorities already are doing the right thing by asking
area merchants to report suspicious purchases.

Any merchant who doesn't already report such suspicious purchases should
start. Authorities can help by reaching out into the schools and educating
even the youngest children about the dangers of drug addiction.

Beyond that, law enforcement groups should lobby the legislature hard to
invest in more rehabilitation programs to help those already addicted.
Certainly, it will be expensive to start these programs initially. But that
cost is more than made up for by the number of people whose lives will be
saved, and the number of people who will avoid prison - a guaranteed drain
of taxpayer dollars.

The only surefire way to defeat the scourge of meth is to cut into the
demand for the drug. Better education, and more rehabilitation, are the best
ways to do that.