AREA METH BUSTS DOWN IN 2010

Despite Drop, Law Enforcement Officials See Little Decrease in Demand

The Buchanan County Drug Strike Force unveiled 2010 statistics on
methamphetamine lab busts, both locally and nationally, with the
numbers providing proof of mixed results in America's ongoing "War on
Drugs."

In 2009, the Drug Strike Force identified and infiltrated 13 meth
labs. The agency that is manned and supervised by the Buchanan County
Sheriff's Department but also serves Clinton, Nodaway, Holt and Andrew
counties cut that number down to eight in 2010 -- a drop of nearly 40
percent. But Lt. Steve Gumm said those numbers don't tell the whole
story.

"I don't think the meth use has gone down this much, as it's been the
meth labs have gone down," he said. "I don't have any statistics that
show enough of a drop or increase to say that the use (of meth) has
really changed."

While laws limiting and tracking the amounts of ingredients such as
ephedrine seem to be curbing local production of meth, the demand
doesn't seem to be dropping off. Mr. Gumm said education about the
dangers of meth has been ongoing, even through firsthand accounts with
family members or friends that may be addicted.

He also said much of the meth being used in the area is coming from
the Mexican drug trade or imported from other areas of the United
States, where there are more active meth labs.

"We're seeing more meth now being imported from Mexico," Mr. Gumm
said. "(Working together) is probably the most important thing law
enforcement agencies can do. Not only the local law enforcement, but
the federal law enforcement agencies and then the Mexican enforcement
officers down there that are having more trouble than anyone else ever
had. Just staying alive, they're in a war there."

The local drop in meth labs is impressive because Independence, Mo.,
and other Kansas City suburbs used to be considered the "Meth Capital
of the World" by some.

Missouri still holds a substantial lead in state-by-state numbers for
meth lab busts.

Dominated by numbers in the south and east parts of the state,
Missouri tallied 1,602 labs busted in 2010, ahead of second-place
Tennessee at 1,084.

Mr. Gumm said two of the Strike Force's eight busts were labs set up
alongside rural roads, in the outdoors, reminiscent of the stills of
moonshiners.

But in February of 2008, a meth lab in St. Joseph's North End
exploded, which stands as a reminder that just because you're not
purchasing, using or cooking the drug yourself, it still poses a
potential risk in your neighborhood. Mr. Gumm said a telltale sign of
a meth lab nearby is a chemical smell permeating the air -- the smell
of ammonia may be particularly easy for people to distinguish.