CONQUERING WORLD OF DRUGS BEGINS AT HOME

County law enforcement officials across 44 states recently reported
methamphetamine as the No. 1 drug problem in their county, according
to a survey released last Tuesday by the National Association of
Counties (NACo).

Almost half of the counties surveyed reported meth has caused more
problems than cocaine, marijuana, and heroin combined.

But despite proposals from the Bush administration to eliminate the
grant that funds drug task forces around the country, local and
national public officials have proved they are willing to take a stand.

Last week, Pope County Sheriff Jay Winters traveled to Birmingham,
Ala., to share his thoughts at a regional conference of how the
United States can better deal with the methamphetamine epidemic.

Winters was selected by the executive director of the Association of
Arkansas Counties to represent the state's county officials in the
regional conference of the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws.

The alliance is a resource for governors, state legislators,
attorneys general, drug and alcohol professionals, community leaders,
and others striving for comprehensive and effective state drug and
alcohol laws, policies and programs, according to its Web site.

But Winters said the 14 representatives from Arkansas, which included
the state drug director and directors of state drug treatment and
prevention facilities, met with representatives of the 13 states in
the southeastern region mainly to look at improving existing laws and
forming new ones to assist in the battle against meth.

He said four regional meetings are expected to take place before a
presentation is made to the U.S. Congress later this year.

Expanding The Laws

Winters said the officials discussed combating meth problems on the
local and national levels, along with providing free solutions and
those that would require funding. "Not to brag, but I think the
Arkansas delegation was very energetic, knowledgeable, and discussed
some real common sense stuff," Winters said. "We didn't walk in there
and say 'Fill our pockets full of money,' but instead really hit on
some issues that would just require us to work -- like our (River
Valley) Meth Project. We put our own time into that, it's nobody's
job to do it."

For example, Arkansas and Louisiana representatives met at the
meeting, Winters explained, and learned Louisiana's state drug laws
are not as strict as Arkansas', meaning drug manufacturers in
Arkansas counties that border Louisiana would have easy access to
purchase meth ingredients.

Winters said the states requested stricter laws concerning the drug,
which would not require any additional funding.

He said the delegation also discussed minor changes to the current
legislation that restricts the sale of cold medicines that contain
precursor meth ingredients.

"We were able to get a law to put ephedrines behind the counter, but
at the time, we did not include gelcaps because they were not easy to
use in the manufacture process," Winters said. "But now they have
figured out a way to use the gelcaps, so we now need to expand the laws."

Tracking The Meth-Makers

For nearly a year, Pope County officials have communicated with a
company in Kentucky that can link any number of pharmacies together
to track purchases of certain meth-manufacture precursors. The
company is also known for setting up programs such as the Victim
Notification System and the Justice Exchange System and taking them
nation-wide.

"We have found that right now, people can stop at Wal-Mart,
Walgreens, or any other pharmacy in Russellville, to buy ephedrine,
then they can continue on down (Interstate) 40 into Pottsville or
Atkins to buy more," Winters said. "And right now we have no
realistic way of tracking them."

But he added Arkansas legislators have been working diligently to
appropriate the $500,000 needed to link every Arkansas pharmacy so
that law enforcement officials could monitor purchases.

Across The Borders

But Winters explained the delegation understood the drug problem in
the United States could not be controlled by simply changing American
laws. He said because an estimated 95 percent of illegal drugs come
from either Mexico or Canada, federal agreements need to be reached.

"We've got to look at the big picture," he said. "Where does it start
and where does it end up? What can we do to prevent it from coming
here? ... We have to make people understand what we're dealing with."

On the Net:
www.naco.org
www.natlalliance.org