TALENT TOUTS PLAN TO FIGHT METHAMPHETAMINE TRADE

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Talent says Missouri
can do more to fight methamphetamine and vowed as governor to expand efforts
to battle the deadly drug.

Talent, who spoke at events in St. Charles and Cape Girardeau on Monday,
said though the state has made progress in fighting meth, Missouri needs
more federal money, expanded enforcement, improved training and better clean
up efforts.

"I think we've been successful in the sense that our local law enforcement
agencies have been fighting so hard, but I don't think we've been successful
in fighting the drug," Talent said in a telephone interview.

In 1992, law enforcement seized fewer than 10 meth labs. That number
skyrocketed to more than 1,000 in 1999, law enforcement officials said.

Calling his plan "Operation End Meth," the likely Republican candidate for
governor from St. Louis said Missouri and Mississippi are the only states
that have not taken advantage of the Uniform Crime Reporting System that
would qualify the state for more federal dollars.

The reporting system requires counties to report drug-related offenses to
the state, which then sends the information to the federal government.

"It makes us look like we don't have a problem because we're not reporting
any," Talent said. "If we had been able to tell the Drug Enforcement Agency
what our situation was, we don't know how much money we might have gotten."

Talent's plan also calls for block grants for treatment for meth addiction,
tougher anti-meth legislation and more money for state law enforcement
agencies to combat the drug.

Meth is a highly addictive drug made with over-the-counter medications and a
variety of chemicals, including anhydrous ammonia and rat poison.

Democrat Bob Holden, the state treasurer and Talent's likely challenger in
the Nov. 7 election, plans to support current state policies aimed at
fighting the meth trade, a spokesman said Monday.

"We've talked about continuing the progress that the current administration
and the state has made in fighting this meth war," said Richard Martin,
Holden's campaign manager.

In recent years, state lawmakers have passed a series of measures to help
thwart the meth trade in the state.

Those measures include expanding courts specializing in drug cases, dropping
the amount of the drug required to get a felony conviction and providing
extra money for cleaning up highly toxic meth production sites.

Talent said those laws don't go far enough.