ANTI-METH CRUSADERS GET SHOW ON ROAD ACROSS IOWA

Iowa officials hope a traveling methamphetamine exhibit will cut down on
production and use of the powerful drug.

The exhibit is called Mobile Education Training Headquarters METH. The
exhibit is in what used to be a stock-car trailer that was seized in a drug
bust and now is used by state drug agents. It is designed to educate
communities in Iowa on the dangers of meth, said Dale Woolery, associate
coordinator of the Governor's Alliance on Substance Abuse.

Woolery said the National Guard will take the exhibit to towns. Once there,
local law-enforcement officials can determine how to show the exhibit, such
as in part of a Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, Woolery said.

Walking through the trailer, people can get an idea of how meth is produced
in home labs. The exhibit explains how normal house hold products, such as
drain cleaner, starter fluid and salt, are used to make meth. Also on
display are glass pipes used to smoke the drug. "Life or Meth" is written
on the side and back of the trailer.

Officials said that in 1997, 60 meth labs were discovered in Iowa. That
number is already at 96 this year. Many of the meth labs discovered by
police have been in southern Iowa, officials said.

"We are in an epidemic here," said Don Nickerson, U.S. attorney for the
southern district of Iowa. "The key component of methamphetamine demand is
education."

Woolery said the exhibit is free to communities that want it to visit. The
exhibit will make its first appearance July 4 in Newton, Woolery said.
Woolery also said that a statewide town meeting on methamphetamine and other
substance abuse will be held in October in Des Moines.

INFO

For information about the traveling methamphetamine education display, call
(515) 242-6391.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst