METH FIGHT CENTER STAGE DURING TALKS

As Western North Carolina's methamphetamine problem evolves, so, too,
must methods of combating it, officials say.

President Bush's top drug-policy adviser met with some of the region's
sheriffs this week to trade ideas on fighting the meth problem.

The conclave of a half-dozen county sheriffs, federal "drug czar" John
Walters and U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., issued no concrete
proposals. But several ideas received their support.

Some were standard fare, such as continuing drug-resistance education
for students.

One possibility, raised by Walters, was more unconventional: random
student drug-testing.

McHenry, who represents the 10th District, said any drug-testing
proposal would have to be "county-driven, not a federal mandate."

Faye Higgins, chairwoman of the Caldwell County Board of
Commissioners, was present during the closed-door meeting. She said
she supported the idea of school drug-testing but said she was
concerned about the cost of setting up a system and about privacy and
parental-consent matters.

She said it's "very unlikely" that such a proposal would come to the
county commissioners any time soon.

The meeting's participants also agreed that North Carolina's drug
courts should be strengthened. Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties
have had the specialized courts for several years, and supporters tout
them as an effective way of reducing court backlogs and getting repeat
offenders off drugs.

The state has some statewide rules and regulations for drug courts and
is trying to establish more to unify the current patchwork of county
drug courts, said Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the N.C. Administrative
Office of the Courts.

The sheriffs -- from Burke, Caldwell, Cleveland, Gaston, Mitchell and
Rutherford counties -- also said they were concerned that the meth
trade is becoming increasingly globalized.

They say they're raiding fewer home meth labs but finding more of the
drug imported from Mexico.

Tougher state restrictions on meth's main ingredient have coincided
with a dramatic decrease in the number of meth labs raided. So far
this year, police have busted 152 labs in the state -- compared with
231 this time last year, according to the N.C. Department of Justice.

Local law enforcement officials also credit more aggressive
prosecution for the decrease. There is little national data to show
how much meth is being smuggled from Mexico, but there is "wide
consensus among law enforcement agencies that Mexican meth-production
has increased significantly since 2002," according to a 2005 report
from the U.S. Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center.

For example, nearly all the meth seized in Caldwell County in the last
year has been the more potent "ice" form of meth, typically
manufactured in Mexico, said Sgt. Chris Hatton, head of the narcotics
squad at the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office.

The unit still shuts down the occasional, headline-making home meth
lab. But Hatton's unit has seized only three this year; last year,
there were six. Deputies are making smaller, but more frequent,
arrests for possession and distribution, not manufacturing.

"We don't find kilos and kilos," Hatton said.

Walters, whose official title is director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, agreed that imports of more potent meth
is on the rise, but he said the federal government is working to
secure the border.

But despite intense public attention on illegal immigration, Congress
adjourned for the summer without passing any border-security overhaul.