METH MYTH? NOT IN THE VALLEY

It's not as bad as you've been led to believe.

That's the message of a newly released report on methamphetamine use
from The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit policy analyst group that
advocates alternatives to incarceration.

The nation's meth problem -- which, because of the drug's prevalence
in the central Valley has received lots of press during the past
decade -- may well be a "myth," the group reports.

According to the report, "only .2 percent" of Americans regularly use
meth, and four times as many Americans use cocaine on a regular
basis. The meth-use rate has remained stable since 1999, but
"misleading media reports of a methamphetamine 'epidemic' have
hindered the development of a rational policy response to the
problem," the report claims.

Harrisonburg and Rockingham County law enforcement officials reject
the report's premise, though, saying there certainly is a meth
problem in the region.

Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Rick Claybrook says denying it is dangerous.

"We'd all like to think the problem has stabilized, but I'd
characterize that as putting your head in the sand," Claybrook said.

Tom Murphy, a special agent with Virginia State Police, runs the
region's RUSH Drug Task Force. He says the report's assertions aren't
supported locally.

"Being on the front line of fighting that drug, I disagree with
that," Murphy said.

Murphy is armed with his own set of statistics, which he says proves
meth is no myth at all.

Since 2001, the percentage of meth cases the task force has
investigated has steadily increased from 27 percent in 2000 to 60
percent last year, the latest year the statistic was available. RUSH
investigates crimes involving all kinds of drugs, not just meth.

To date in 2006, the task force has seized 10 pounds of meth, putting
the group on par to seize more meth this year than last. In 2002, the
task force seized 23.9 pounds of meth, the most in the past five years.

The Drug Enforcement Administration reports on its Web site that the
Shenandoah Valley has the highest percentage of methamphetamine
abusers in the state.

"It's been no myth out there," said Van Quarles, a spokesman with the
DEA's Washington Field Division.

Nor has the situation plateaued, as The Sentencing Report suggests,
and that's because of the area's population growth, Murphy said.

Additionally, he said, meth continues to be a problem because of the
region's proximity to Interstate 81, a thoroughfare for the drug's
delivery along the East Coast; its influx of immigrants from Mexico,
where the drug is manufactured in "superlabs;" and its large
population of blue-collar, shift workers who, looking for something
to keep them going, make up a large percentage of users.

Recent state laws restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine, often
found in cold medicines but also used to manufacture meth, have
helped, Murphy said, but most meth around here comes from south of the border.

"There's no question we would see a decrease if we had better border
control," Murphy said.

In the meantime, the task force stays busy, receiving three to five
leads for new cases each day and traveling around the United States
trying to cut off suppliers who are shuttling meth to the area.

"I don't know if we can ever get rid of it," Murphy said, "but we can
certainly reduce it."

His comments sound like the kind of rhetoric The Sentencing Report
warns against, but Murphy says it's no exaggeration.

"It's a horrific drug," he said. "Meth turns normal people into
monsters, and we have seen that first hand."