DROP IN METH LABS, USE IN WORKPLACE

WASHINGTON - Good news in the fight against meth abuse came on two
fronts Monday, with reports showing a major drop in methamphetamine
lab seizures nationwide and a similar decline in the spread of the
drug into the work place.

Local law enforcement officials say there is still a strong appetite
for the highly addictive drug and warned that meth makers in Mexico
and other countries are moving to fill the supply void.

The number of meth lab busts plummeted more than 30 percent last year
as most states put in place laws to restrict the sale of
over-the-counter cold medicines used to make meth, according to the
Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Intelligence Center.

Meanwhile, the nation's largest drug testing company said Monday that
the number of job applicants and workers who tested positive for meth
plunged 31 percent over the first five moths of this year.

Those figures are based on the results of more than 7 million drug
tests in 2005 and about 3 million tests from January to May 2006,
conducted by New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics Inc.

White House drug policy director John Walters called the data an
encouraging sign of progress.

"The practices that have been taking place in our states are working,
not only on small toxic labs but also what we're trying to do with
demand," said Walters, head of the Office of National Control Policy.

Meth lab seizures fell from 17,562 in 2004 to 12.185 last year, with
western and central western states like Oklahoma, Montana and
Washington seeing some of the sharpest declines. Missouri, which leads
the nation in the number of lab seizures, saw a 22 percent decline.

In Oregon, where lab busts fell 60 percent, the biggest reason is a
state law requiring cold medicines to be placed behind pharmacy
counters, said Capt. Craig Durbin, former head of the Oregon State
Police's drug enforcement section. The law helped stop meth makers
from buying large quantities of cold pills to extract pseudoephedrine,
the ingredient used to cook meth with other household chemicals.

Durbin said the demand for meth still remains high and is increasingly
fed by supplies from Mexico and Canada.

"When we talk to our task forces, they're still able to go out at a
moment's notice and purchase meth," Durbin said. "Until we start
seeing that change, I don't think we can say we've got anything close
to being under control."

Oregon is among at least 37 states with laws that restrict the sale of
cold medicines in an effort to starve meth manufactures of their key
ingredient. The Federal Combat Meth Act, signed into law in March,
will enforce similar restrictions across the country by Sept 30.

While the drug czar praised the "robust response nationwide" for the
good news, some federal lawmakers said much of the credit to state and
local governments working without much national direction.

Rep. Mark Souder, chairman of the House drug policy subcommittee, said
the administration has refused to make the fight against meth abuse a
priority. He also criticized a White House budget proposal to slash
federal spending for state and local law enforcement to fight meth.

"Efforts to continue to downplay the threat, after working to cut
funding for anti-meth efforts, are only making those who fight the
meth epidemic daily more angry at this administration," said Souder,
R-Ind.