KOHL SEEKS FEDERAL MONEY TO FIGHT RURAL 'CRANK' SCOURGE

Legislation Calls For Giving More Resources, Training To Small-Town Law
Enforcers

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, attempting to give rural communities the kind of help
in fighting drugs that more often goes to cities, announced Friday he wants
to lead a national effort to curb the spread of methamphetamine.

The Wisconsin Democrat will co-sponsor legislation with Sen. Charles
Grassley (R-Iowa) to provide more than $50 million for "more comprehensive
assistance to our rural communities in the fight against meth."

The "Rural Methamphetamine Use Response Act of 1999" would create regional
methamphetamine training centers for law enforcement and provide more money
to help local police agencies clean up dangerous homemade methamphetamine
laboratories. It also would direct the U.S. attorney general to create an
annual national strategy to fight the
use of methamphetamine - a form of which is more commonly called "crank."

Kohl also on Friday amended a Senate appropriations bill to include what he
is calling the "Western Wisconsin Methamphetamine Initiative." That
legislation would make $1 million available to Wisconsin law enforcement
agencies.

The spread of methamphetamine in Wisconsin must be stopped "before it's too
late," Kohl said in a statement.

Most resources available to local law enforcement are focused on fighting
drugs in Wisconsin's cities, Kohl said.

"We do have problems in our cities with drugs, but we can't overlook our
rural areas," Kohl said.

Methamphetamine causes anger, panic, paranoia and hallucinations. The drug
is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system and is highly
addictive. Often made in homemade laboratories with common household
chemicals, crank has moved eastward across the country. Minnesota and Iowa
are struggling with large "methedemics."

Earlier this year, Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle called
methamphetamine the No. 1 drug priority for western Wisconsin. He announced
a major effort against the drug, and released results of a January study
showing methamphetamine use is spreading along Wisconsin's western border
from Minnesota and Iowa.

The federal bill, expected to be introduced next week, is aimed at areas
with populations under 250,000 and over 20,000.

Eric Johnson, district attorney in St. Croix County, which has one of the
biggest methamphetamine problems in Wisconsin, called Kohl's actions "terrific."

"The major deterrent takes place on the local level," he said Friday. "It's
(the proposal) terrific as long as the talk is backed up."

Johnson said his office's greatest need is for a specialized prosecutor to
work on methamphetamine cases.

"It's been talked about for 18 months," he said, adding that the proposal
was "shot down" recently on the state level.

The rural methamphetamine act would:

Direct the U.S. secretary of health and human services to submit annually a
report on the problems caused by methamphetamine consumption. It would
analyze whether methamphetamine use in rural areas is related to a lack of
substance abuse treatment there.

Provide $20 million to the Drug Enforcement Administration to alleviate the
growing financial burden on rural communities, small cities, midsize cities,
and other communities resulting from the cleanup of clandestine laboratories
and other drug-related hazardous waste from methamphetamine seizures.

Give $4.7 million to the DEA to a establish group of 20 Spanish-speaking
agents trained in methamphetamine investigations to work with state and
local law enforcement agencies around the country. When not made in homemade
labs, methamphetamine is often traced back to Mexican drug cartels.

Provide $30 million to establish four regional satellite training centers
through the DEA for the purposes of training federal, state and local law
enforcement personnel about methamphetamine.

Appropriate $3.75 million to create specialized schools on clandestine
laboratory investigation, and create a program to be dubbed "Train the
Trainer" that would help state and local law enforcement personnel train
colleagues within their jurisdictions.

Make it illegal to steal or transport across state lines anhydrous ammonia,
a common ingredient in methamphetamine.

Give $500,000 to Iowa State University to continue and expand its research
into the development of inert agents that, when added to anhydrous ammonia,
eliminate its usefulness as an ingredient in the production of methamphetamine.