DEA OFFICIAL: COMMUNITIES KEY IN FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

Pilot Program Will Let Springfield Try New Ideas, Asa Hutchinson Says.

Missouri ranks among the top states in seizures of methamphetamine labs,
with four times more in just the Springfield area than in Florida, the head
of the Drug Enforcement Administration said Monday.

To overcome illegal drug activity, Springfield-area law enforcement
authorities and residents need hope, perseverance and compassion -
qualities the federal agency will help local officials maintain through a
new initiative, DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson said.

He spoke to an estimated 130 people, mostly law enforcement officials, at
the start of a two-day summit at Southwest Missouri State University. His
appearance introduces the Integrated Drug Enforcement Assistance program.
The initiative will bring together law enforcement with community
coalitions to battle the drug trade through prevention and treatment programs.

"Springfield is probably not any worse than anywhere else in the nation,
but at the same time you're not immune to the drug problems that our
country faces," Hutchinson said.

The DEA selected Springfield as one of five U.S. pilot cities for the IDEA
program after studying the city and receiving a letter from Rep. Roy Blunt,
a Strafford Republican, recommending it as a potential site.

Tara DeGarmo, DEA spokesperson, said the program marks a change in the
agency's approach. Instead of relying mainly on enforcement and arrests to
battle drugs, DEA also wants to encourage partnerships with communities to
address the causes of drug problems.

President George W. Bush's goal of reducing drug abuse by 10 percent over
the next two years will not succeed without local help, Hutchinson said.

"That will not be done in Washington, D.C. It will be done in communities
like Springfield, Missouri," he said.

The program should start here in about a month, said DEA Special Agent Bill
Dyer.

DEA will station an agent in Springfield to work solely on drug issues.
Officials will seek grants to fund solutions to problems identified through
the summit, Dyer said.

Low-cost remedies should get implemented promptly while others may take a
few months, he said.

The program has a lot to address.

From January through Nov. 8, Springfield police's narcotics division made
90 drug buys, served 36 search warrants, seized 50 meth labs, and had 502
drug cases assigned, said Lt. Don Fuhr.

Police seized about 418 grams of meth, more than 1,050 grams of cocaine and
31 pounds of marijuana last year in Springfield, he said.

Of the 11,573 meth labs seized around the nation last year, more than 1,800
were in Missouri, Dyer said.

Seventy-eight meth labs were seized in Greene County and 68 were discovered
in Christian County - more than the 57 found in St. Louis County, he said.

While meth, cocaine and marijuana remain the drugs of choice in southwest
Missouri, officers are seeing more "club drugs" such as Ecstacy, officials
said.

"Everything you want, you can get here," Dyer said.

Springfield Mayor Tom Carlson said he was glad DEA was offering more
resources. He said the city needed a more pro-active approach to fighting
illegal drugs.

"Too often our approach to dealing with the drug problem has been one where
we're trying to arrest our way out of the situation. ... We need to have
the attitude where we focus on turning off the tap rather than cleaning up
the mess," Carlson said.

The DEA launched the IDEA program in January with three pilot sites at
Allentown, Pa.; North Charleston, S.C.; and Portsmouth, Va.

This fall, the program was expanded to include Springfield and the
Mobile-Prichard, Ala., area.

Melissa Haddow, Community Partnership of the Ozarks executive director,
noted several community groups, including United Way and YMCA, work to
deter drug abuse through educational methods.

The city of Springfield has involved residents in neighborhood surveys,
asking what problems they face and how it can help solve them, she said.

Such questions cause residents to become more involved and care more about
what happens on their streets, the executive director said.

"In a neighborhood that is strong like that," Haddow said, "it makes it
much harder for substance abuse and crime to get a foot in the door."

Hutchinson also addressed dozens of SMS students and residents during a
Monday night public lecture at the Plaster Theater.

Sophomore David Houchens said he was interested in hearing what solutions
the federal agency had to offer.

"It just doesn't seem like what they're doing is working," he said. "You
have had the same problems for the last 30 or 40 years. They haven't fixed
anything yet, and they're doing the same stuff."

Contrary to arguments that no progress has been made in deterring drugs,
Hutchinson said drug use in the country decreased by 50 percent in the last
20 years and cocaine use dropped 70 percent in the past 15 years. In
addition, fewer than five percent of Americans use illegal drugs.

Hutchinson said he will continue to oppose drug legalization, noting some
initiatives to do so failed in this month's election.

Those included a movement to legalize three ounces of marijuana in Nevada
and another to allow the growth of industrial hemp in South Dakota.

The DEA administrator said new ideas are helping deter drug use, and
commended Missouri for being a leader in implementing drug courts, which
offer treatment options for nonviolent offenders instead of just incarceration.

"We will win this battle with perseverance," Hutchinson said. "Quick fixes
don't work."