ETHETE -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Wednesday said the state's best
chance to control methamphetamine addiction will come from the grassroots.

He said state government can fight the highly addictive stimulant with
stepped-up law enforcement and treatment for addicts, but
community-based solutions will work best over the long term.

"Ultimately, this is an issue that will be resolved one person at a
time, one family at a time, one community at a time," said
Freudenthal, who made his remarks at a three-day meth awareness and
prevention conference on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

Freudenthal, a Democrat, also spoke at last year's reservation meth
conference, but his presence this year is noteworthy because of the
prominence meth addiction has gained in the gubernatorial race.

Earlier this month, likely Republican challenger Ray Hunkins pledged
to create a cabinet-level position to oversee the fight against meth
if he's elected. The Wheatland lawyer and rancher also criticized
limited success by the state to implement a single plan to counter the
meth epidemic.

Freudenthal, in response, called Hunkins' plan a "recycled federal
drug czar model" that he considered and rejected because of its
"top-down, state government" approach.

About 300 people attended the third annual meth conference at Wyoming
Indian High School Wednesday. School teachers, social workers, tribal
leaders and reservation residents shared information and stories about
the devastating drug.

Last Friday, federal officials announced the arrests of 43 people
involved in a methamphetamine distribution ring that targeted the
reservation. The bust netted 20 pounds of meth, guns and cash and was
the second such crackdown on the reservation in the last 18 months.

Authorities said drug gangs are targeting the reservation because of
law enforcement loopholes that made it difficult to track and
prosecute offenders, although officials say those problems have been
resolved.

Freudenthal told Wednesday's audience that the entire state needs to
focus on meth.

"The notion that the methamphetamine problem is simply a reservation
problem is incorrect," said Freudenthal, a former U.S. attorney for
the state of Wyoming for more than seven years.

Freudenthal praised the Wind River reservation for recognizing meth
addiction problems, but he said more must be done.

He urged adults to watch for early behaviors in children that might
indicate they will eventually take drugs. He also said communities
need to reward good behavior and make it clear that drug dealing will
not be tolerated.

"While the state has a role," Freudenthal said, "the key is what you
are doing as a community on this reservation."

Millie Friday, a tribal member from Ethete who heard Freudenthal
speak, was happy to hear him say that meth is a state problem. She's
worried that Wyoming residents will read accounts of the recent drug
bust and inaccurately believe the reservation's problem is worse than
other areas.

June Shakespeare, a social worker from Arapahoe, said she hopes people
will take Freudenthal's grassroots approach to heart.

"Everybody needs to get on the same page and say we're not going to
let this in our community," Shakespeare said.