ANTI-METH PLAN TARGETS PRODUCERS IN MEXICO

WASHINGTON -- Federal officials outlined a strategy Thursday to
reduce methamphetamine use by 15 percent and domestic meth labs by 25
percent by the end of 2008 through cooperation with other countries
and increased domestic enforcement. Several federal agencies joined
together to release the 53-page 2006 Synthetic Drug Control Strategy,
which lists the Bush administration's goals and proposals to stem the
flow of both meth and the chemicals used to make the drug.

John Walters, White House drug policy director, said the number of
domestic meth labs has decreased but that production has shifted to
foreign countries, especially Mexico.

"We have the tools and knowledge to be able to make the difference,"
said Walters. "We are making progress against these efforts. This is
about follow-through."

Ambassador Eduardo Ibarrola, the deputy chief of mission at the
Mexican Embassy, joined in the press conference at the Justice
Department to pledge his country's cooperation with the U.S. in combating meth.

"Our countries alone cannot confront the great challenge of drug
trafficking or the ability of organized crime to generate violence
and to foment corruption," he said. "That is why international
cooperation is imperative." The strategy calls for the U.S. to
improve information gathering and intelligence from other countries
about shipments of chemicals that can be used to make meth. The
administration has a goal of reaching agreements with Germany, China
and India by the end of the year on greater sharing of information
about such transactions.

It also calls for strengthening law enforcement and border control
activities, particularly with Mexico. The Drug Enforcement
Administration and Mexican law enforcement officials will establish
specialized meth enforcement teams on their respective sides of the border.

The plans also include implementing the Combat Meth Act, which
President Bush signed into law in March. That law sets a national
standard for restricting the retail sale of chemicals that can be
used to make meth and increased penalties for meth cooks and traffickers.

The report said the federal government will continue cooperating with
state, local and tribal governments on the meth problem, including
grants for treatment and prevention programs, collection and sharing
of data and funding four regional summits on meth.

Walters said additional federal money will be provided for school
districts that choose to use random drug testing as part of their
prevention efforts.

Many of the proposals already had been announced individually, but
the report drew them together into an overall plan.

State laws controlling retail access to over-the-counter cold
medicines that contain pseudoephedrine have reduced meth's domestic
production, and a larger proportion of the drug now comes across the
border as a final product, the officials said.

About 20 percent of meth used in the U.S. comes from domestic labs
and roughly 80 percent is produced by foreign-based drug trafficking
syndicates, officials said.

Current and previous administrations have avoided issuing strategies
focused on a single drug or category of drugs such as synthetics,
which includes both meth and prescription drug abuse, the report said.

But meth and prescription drugs warrant a targeted response, partly
because they or their ingredients are designed for legal uses and
also because of the extreme health and environmental problems from
making meth and the "indisputably destructive nature" of meth use,
the report states.

The goal of 15 percent reduction in both meth use and prescription
drug abuse translates in real numbers to 87,000 fewer meth users and
901,000 fewer prescription drug abusers, the report states.