SHERIFF - EDUCATION THE KEY TO BATTLING METH USE

The news reports from Washington, D.C., earlier this week trumpeted
the news that the number of methamphetamine lab busts are down this year.

Nationally, lab seizures have dropped 30 percent, according to the
Bush administration. In Oregon, they're down 75 percent, Douglas
County Sheriff Chris Brown told a dinner audience Thursday.

The bad news, Brown told members of the Douglas County Democratic
Party, is that meth addiction is just as serious of a problem locally
as it's ever been.

"It's a burglary problem. It's a domestic abuse problem. It's an
identity theft problem," Brown said. "Meth is the catalyst for all of
this stuff going on."

Last year's move to require cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine
to be placed behind the counter has worked to prevent home cooks from
producing their own methamphetamine, Brown said. However, it has
meant an increase in the amount of processed meth coming to Oregon from Mexico.

That doesn't mean the ban on counter sales of cold medicine was a
failure because it shifted the supply, Brown told the audience of
about 25 people at Chi's Garden Restaurant. The real purpose of the
law was to make homes safer and protect the lives of children.

Children of meth cooks breathed in dangerous vapors and were exposed
to caustic chemicals, as well as the finished product.

"The law was enacted to eliminate those risks to children," Brown
said. "It's inconvenient for people to have those medicines placed
behind the counter, but it works."

He said children need to be educated to understand the dangers of
methamphetamine use so they can choose to steer clear of the drug. He
said it's the same education that has worked to lower the rate of
smoking among United States residents.

A task force was established a few months ago in Douglas County meant
to do just that, Brown said. The group has been working to develop
educational tools that can be used to inform people about problems
associated with meth.

In the near future, seminars will be given to train residents
interested in talking with groups about meth.

"We're going to make a big push and we need your help," Brown said.

As the county's chief deputy prosecutor 30 years ago, Roseburg
attorney Charles Lee told Brown he wrote affidavits for search
warrants for a variety of illegal drugs. He said the potency of the
drugs available today is much higher than it was back then. "I'm kind
of nostalgic for some of those other drugs," Lee said sarcastically.