FIRST ROUND AGAINST METH

Funding, Summit Highlight Start Of A Long Campaign.

Just a few months ago the problem of methamphetamine manufacturing in
California -- and especially in the Central Valley -- was a poorly
understood and mostly neglected issue. That has changed dramatically, and
that's good news.

The shift in awareness began with the Oct. 8 publication of "A Madness
Called Meth," a special report published jointly by The Fresno Bee, Modesto
Bee and Sacramento Bee. Now, on the eve of a major summit of elected
leaders from every level of government in Fresno, and in the wake of new
budget decisions by Gov. Gray Davis, the problem is getting a great deal of
attention and, what's more important, significant funding.

Davis announced that his next state budget would include $50 million for
the efforts against meth, a significant increase in funding. Unfortunately,
some of that money is being budgeted in anticipation of losing federal
funds for the fight. That's where the meth summit on Tuesday comes in.

The summit at Fresno's Downtown Club has been organized by Rep. Cal Dooley,
D-Hanford. Co-hosts will include both of California's senators, Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, as well as Rep. Gary Condit, D-Ceres.

Joining them will be Reps. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, and Doug Ose,
R-Sacramento. The presence of such a bipartisan group of congressional
leaders is promising, since California's delegation in Washington, D.C. has
the task of persuading representatives of both parties from around the
nation that this is their fight, too. Some 90% of the nation's
methamphetamine is manufactured in this state, but its distribution is
nationwide, and there are increasing reports of manufacturing moving to the
midwest and the East Coast.

State and local officials in attendance on Tuesday will include Lt.
Governor Cruz Bustamante, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Fresno
Sheriff Richard Pierce, Tulare Sheriff Bill Wittman, Kern Sheriff Carl
Sparks, Stanislaus Sheriff Les Weidman, and more than 60 others from
government, law enforcement and the private sector.

The meth problem is real, it is big and it is frightening. The drug's use
cuts across all socio-economic and demographic lines. It creates a serious
health care problem with the destruction it wreaks on users. The hideously
toxic byproducts of its manufacture cause terrible environmental problems.
Meth is often cooked in remote rural areas. The waste products contaminate
soil and threaten the water supply. That's everyone's problem.

But the worst may be the damage done to children. The children of meth
users and producers are often exposed to the drug's deadly consequences,
directly or indirectly. Some breathe the poisonous fumes created in its
production; others suffer at the hands of abusive parents and family
members. There are 20,000 children living in foster care in the Central
Valley; most of them come from homes where drugs are abused, and in most of
those homes, methamphetamine is the drug of choice.

So this is a good start. The good intentions are there, and are beginning
to be backed by determination and money. But we shouldn't kid ourselves.
Cleaning up this mess is the work of a generation, at least. This is just a
start.