DEA DIRECTOR: METH FIGHT ON

The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration encouraged federal,
state and local law enforcement in Mississippi to work together as the FBI
gets ready to shift its agents from drug and criminal investigations to
counterterrorism.

Asa Hutchinson, a former Arkansas congressman now the DEA director, was in
Jackson on Wednesday as part of his campaign to bring awareness to the
nation's methamphetamine epidemic. In the next three months, Hutchinson
plans on visiting 30 states.

"I think we all have to say we're on the same side," Hutchinson said. "Many
times, it turns out to be one agency's enforcement operation. That has to
end. There's too much at stake."

Meth is a highly-addictive stimulant easily made with store-bought
chemicals. It is most often smoked. Abusers can go without sleep for up to
15 days, but turn paranoid and violent, arming themselves against people
and things nobody else can see.

"Meth traffickers target rural America and endanger children," Hutchinson
said. "We have to educate our young people about the dangers of meth."

In the past, abusers were white males in their thirties, but in Mississippi
a drastic change has taken place as 18- to 34-year-olds of all races and
genders have become addicted, said Don Strange, the director of the
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

"Nothing I've said about meth abuse has been more powerful than hearing a
mother talk about her 36-year-old son's addiction," Strange said. "She said
his teeth turned yellow and fell out. She walked in as he cut his arm with
a knife. He said bugs were crawling under his skin. He was hallucinating.
He had no clothes on."

Strange says Hutchinson plans on asking Congress for funding to hire 200
more sworn DEA agents. The changes at the FBI come at a time when state
legislators have cut the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics budget by $6
million in two years.

"The quick fix is going to be creating federal task forces," Strange said.
"The DEA will be deputizing four MBN agents. They will be stationed in
Mississippi, working on major cases. They stay on the state payroll, but
can earn overtime paid by the DEA."

Strange said he would post the openings and wait and see who applies. It's
unlikely unproductive or brand new agents would be selected.

"This is good for the Bureau of Narcotics," Strange said. "The agents would
get valuable experience working with federal drug agents, the U.S. Attorney
General's office and wiretaps. That pays dividends for us. And we get a cut
of any federally seized funds."

It was standing room only at Hutchinson's 11:30 a.m. appearance at the
Edison Walthall Hotel. The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Greater
Jackson Law Enforcement Association co-sponsored the engagement. Hutchinson
praised Mississippi's legislators for toughening state drug laws. Violators
must now pay the thousands of dollars it costs for meth lab cleanup and
face prison sentences of up to 30 years.

"I think we have to make sure we take repeat offenders off the streets for
a long time," he said.

Madison County Sheriff Toby Trowbridge asked Hutchinson if the federal
government had as much trouble as the state in keeping drug dealers locked up.

"I had a possession case against a known violator," Trowbridge said. "He
pled guilty to a charge where he could have served eight years. The law
says he was supposed to be in jail one year. We do our job. We work hard
trying to keep dopers off the street. Then, this guy is released after
eight months."

Trowbridge isn't the only person fed up with drug dealers. Larry Folks, a
salvage yard worker from Covington County, told Hutchinson not enough
people caught with precursor chemicals are being prosecuted.

"We have meth being sold in our schools," Folks said. "I don't think our
prosecutors are educated about meth. I don't think they know what they
should be doing about it."

John Hodges, director of St. Dominic's Behavioral Health Services in
Jackson, said more attention has to be paid to adolescent drug users. He
says the stereotype is that they are black children from west Jackson.

"This is not so," Hodges said. "They are mostly white and live in north
Jackson, Rankin and Madison counties. They think they are invincible. Their
parents find out about the drugs when something goes wrong. By then, their
kids are in the early stages of addiction."