DRUG WAR COMING TO A HOME NEAR YOU

Our View: The Methamphetamine Trade Is Bringing Danger, Blight And
Expense To Our Neighborhoods And Communities.

Doug Floyd - For the editorial board

Spokane -- The bad guys are winning the meth war. They should; they
have an advantage. Methamphetamine is cheap and easy to make,
requiring simple equipment, minimal space and common ingredients.

On law enforcement's side, meanwhile, combating this highly addictive
drug takes costly equipment, specially trained personnel and the
coordinated effort of various public agencies -- health districts,
fire departments, law enforcement, environmental agencies -- all of
which have budget limitations.

Last week, seven people were arrested during raids on two alleged
meth labs in the Spokane Valley. The action could have been carried
out a day earlier -- sparing three children an extra day's exposure
to the hazardous chemicals used in meth -- but local authorities had
to wait for a special Washington State Patrol response team to arrive
from Western Washington.

Seizing a meth lab is highly specialized business. The Spokane County
Sheriff's office has spent nearly $190,000 this year just on
processing meth labs for evidence. Yet the problem is getting worse.

Last year, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration,
Washington ranked second behind California for the number of meth
labs seized by police agencies. The state Department of Ecology says
the number of known meth labs in the state, a mere 54 in all of 1995,
swelled to 670 in just the first six months of 2000 and could
approach 1,500 by the time figures for the whole year are tabulated.

Idaho had only 133 reported meth lab seizures in 1999, well below
Washington's 597, but don't let the numbers fool you. Officials and
many residents of Coeur d'Alene say meth use and manufacture is
devastating some of the community's historic close-in neighborhoods.

Residents of Spokane's West Central Neighborhood contend with the
same thing. Cash-toting meth makers rent houses from absentee
landlords, then let the properties fall into neglect while attracting
unsavory visitors and exposing neighbors to safety risks that include
fires, explosions and chemical contamination.

The cost of equipment, personnel and training to fight this battle
constitutes, in Spokane County Sheriff's spokesman Dave Reagan's
words, "a budget buster."

Even if all law enforcement needs were met, however, cases would
still bog down because the state crime lab for Eastern Washington has
too few chemists and prosecutors' offices are inadequately staffed.

Those are concerns for state and local budget writers to address. In
the community, though, it will take a collaborative effort by
concerned and attentive neighbors willing to speak out, responsive
code enforcement offices prepared to take action and honorable
landlords ready to accept responsibility for the destructive impact
easy rental profits sometimes have on neighborhoods.