DANIELS EMPHASIZES TREATMENT, PREVENTION

Des Moines Mayor Preston Daniels delivered a message to Iowa lawmakers
Thursday: To fight Iowa's spiraling methamphetamine problem, it's critical
to focus not only on tough laws, but also on treating addicts and preventing
others from experimenting with the drug.

"Treatment is one of your best bets for your dollar," Daniels told members
of the Iowa House and Senate during a legislative breakfast. "Don't look for
the magic bullet. Look for the long-run solution."

Daniels was speaking in his role as director of court and community
relations for Employee and Family Resources, the company that administers
the state's managed-care plan for substance abuse.

Politicians, he said, often try to solve drug problems by beefing up law
enforcement. As mayor, he said, he's added 15 police officers to the streets
of Des Moines. But he knows more officers won't alone solve the drug
problem.

"I do that because people are demanding it, not because I believe it's an
answer to the drug problem," Daniels said. He and other speakers encouraged
lawmakers to consider broad approaches to the meth problem, which has soared
over the last five years.

Methamphetamine, a synthetic drug that can be produced with an array of
common chemicals, is the most addictive drug available, said Dr. Dennis Weis
of the Powell Chemical Dependency Center.

One gram of the drug - either smoked, snorted or injected - can sustain a
weeklong high, Weis said, unlike cocaine or heroin.

Meth has a devastating effect on the brain, he said. "You begin to have a
brain that is depressed without methamphetamine," he said.

Senate President Mary Kramer, R-West Des Moines, convened the meeting to
inform legislators on methamphetamine, which is expected to be the key crime
issue of this year's legislative session.