METH A BLIP ON LOCAL RADAR

Stories that proclaim methamphetamine use at epidemic levels in the
United States are commonplace in today's news media.

Not so fast, says the Sentencing Project, a non-profit Washington,
D.C., advocacy group which claims meth use reports are overblown and
that cocaine and marijuana abuse are far more significant problems in
our society.

Overstating the meth problem, the group contends, leads to a
misapplication of crime-fighting resources.

Stark County criminal court figures appear to support that
contention.

Sgt. John Oliver, of Stark County's Metro Drug unit, reports only
three or four arrests last year involving meth. While meth labs are
given a high priority by law enforcement officials because of the
dangerous and explosive chemicals involved in the manufacture of the
drug, cocaine and marijuana are far more popular among drug abusers.

Data compiled by the Clerk of Massillon Municipal Court also shows
that meth is far behind cocaine and marijuana.

Of the 213 felony drug cases that went through the court in the last
18 months, only 17 involved meth -- less than one case per month --
and most of those involved grocery and drug store thefts of Sudafed,
an over-the-counter sinus medication used to manufacture meth.

Meth use isn't close to reaching epidemic proportion in Stark, local
authorities say.

"We've been fortunate here in Massillon that it doesn't seem to be a
problem," said Sgt. Jim Mizeres, head of the Massillon Detective
Bureau. "Crack still seems to be more popular and the drug of choice
here. I know (meth) is a real problem in Summit County. We're keeping
our eye on it."

Massillon Police Chief Robert Williams said the department is gearing
up to handle the problem through training. He noted there is no
unified meth task force yet in Stark.

"We would be naive to think the problem ends at the Stark/Summit
border," Williams said.

Perry Police Chief Tim Escola said township police broke up a meth lab
operating in the township last May.

"There's quite a bit of meth all around us," Escola said. "I think it
is on the rise. When I was at Jackson, I know we had a couple for
theft -- guys breaking in and stealing Sudafed -- that were linked to
labs in Summit. We're going to do whatever we can to prevent that from
happening in Perry."

Jackson Chief Harley Neftzer said the most recent meth arrest in the
township was the police raid of a storage facility on the county line
a little over a year ago. That storage facility was believed to be
supplying several labs, some in Summit.

"We've noticed some activity in the northern tier of townships,"
Neftzer said. "We're going to be aggressive in battling anything that
shows up here."

Neftzer said state legislators are enacting laws which will make it
more difficult to obtain the ingredients used to manufacture meth, and
that should help keep the problem at bay.

Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero said meth use is increasing in
the county but is a long way from reaching epidemic levels portrayed
in some national media stories.

But all four local authorities point to Summit County which they say
has a large meth problem.

Inspector Keith Thorton, with the Summit County Sheriff's office and a
member of that county's Meth Response Team, said 223 meth labs were
found in the Summit in 2004 and 2005. That leads the state.

The task force, which includes representation from all of Summit
County's law enforcement agencies -- including the BCI from the state
and the DEA from the federal level, is a model for fighting the war on
meth, Thorton said.

"Meth is becoming a problem everywhere," Thorton said. "It can be made
anywhere, even in the trunk of a car."