RID WISCONSIN OF METH PROBLEM

Wisconsin's efforts to reduce methamphetamine labs are working. But
the state must now expand the battle against the illicit drug on
another front: Halting the trade in meth flowing into the state from
labs elsewhere, particularly Mexico.

To shore up resources on this added battlefront, Wisconsin
should:

.Pressure the federal government to strengthen joint U.S.-Mexican
anti-trafficking efforts.

U.S.-Mexican cooperation can be effective. Earlier this month, Mexican
law enforcement officials, trained in anti-meth procedures by U.S.
officials, seized a meth "superlab" near Guadalajara that had been
feeding meth into the United States.

However, a comprehensive anti-meth initiative involving U.S. and
Mexican cooperation was slow in developing, only getting a start in
May of this year. Wisconsin's congressional delegation should demand
that the Bush administration vigorously pursue the initiative.

.Lobby federal officials to obtain more aid for anti-meth law
enforcement and drug treatment programs.

A prime option is to convince federal officials to designate western
Wisconsin as a high-intensity drug trafficking area, eligible for
federal money.

.Create and train more law enforcement teams to focus on
meth-trafficking and abuse in the most affected areas.

.Educate the public on meth abuse.

Families should learn to recognize the signs of meth abuse: agitation,
excited speech, violent behavior, weight loss and tendencies to
compulsively clean and groom and to repetitively sort objects.

Families also should be aware that meth abusers can benefit from drug
treatment programs and support groups.

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug linked to brain-cell damage
and violent acts.

In the difficult fight against meth trafficking and abuse, Wisconsin
law enforcement has registered some success. Fewer small meth labs are
being found and destroyed in the state, after a peak of 112 small meth
labs were destroyed in 2003. In the first half of 2006, authorities
destroyed 22 meth labs, which could bring the total for the year below
last year's total of 56 labs.

The reduction in local labs follows a national trend. But the decline
in local labs has failed to shut off the supply of meth. The lab
industry has merely consolidated in fewer locations, relying on
trafficking networks to move the drug to customers.

Wisconsin cannot afford to slack off in its vigilance against local
labs. But the state should also devote more resources to stopping meth
traffic.