METH HAS AREA IN ITS TALONS

Anyone who thinks methamphetamine is a problem "somewhere else"
should get a wake up call from these sobering facts:

Henderson County law officers investigated 120 cases of meth abuse,
manufacturing or trafficking last year, up from six in 1999.

Of 106 drug cases the Polk County Sheriff's Department made last
year, 90 percent were meth-related. Meth use spurs other crimes
including child abuse, domestic violence, robbery, burglary and theft.

The drug, notorious for ruining lives, grips users in a delirious
pursuit of getting high.

Almost 90 percent of people in Appalachian Counseling's substance
abuse program are trying to kick meth addiction.

Children are found in more than a third of homes where meth is made.

Nearly half of the children taken into court-ordered custody last
year in Henderson County came from homes torn apart by meth.

The 105 meth labs authorities busted last year in nearby Rutherford
and McDowell counties represented almost a third of the 328 labs
seized statewide.

The 45 chemicals in meth constitute a toxic and explosive brew that
threatens children, the public and emergency responders.

Cleaning up a meth lab, whether in a home, motel room or forest,
requires a hazardous materials team and can cost taxpayers $4,000 to $10,000.

Meth can cause heart failure, brain damage and stroke plus paranoia,
insomnia, anxiety, depression and aggression.

When authorities bust a meth lab in a home with children, they have
to burn the children's toys, clothes and belongings due to toxic exposure.

These facts, from staff writer Scott Parrott's comprehensive ongoing
series, should spur concern. Henderson and Polk counties may not yet
be overrun with meth labs like some neighboring counties. But the
exploding number of cases shows meth is making its insidious way here
from large labs in Mexico, the Southwest and as close as Atlanta.
Proximity to meth-producing counties and South Carolina, which has
fewer restrictions on meth ingredients, is also cause for concern.

The good news is state and local authorities have jumped on the
problem. In recent years, lawmakers in Raleigh passed a long list of
tougher penalties for meth, including longer sentences for meth
makers and for possessing the main ingredients in meth. A new state
law also requires cold medicine that contains pseudoephedrine, the
main meth ingredient, be sold behind the counter. Other states that
have adopted similar restrictions experienced a 40 to 60 percent
decline in meth labs.

Parrott's series identifies some places the fight against meth needs
to be strengthened. District attorneys need more manpower to
prosecute a surge of meth-related crimes. The state crime lab in
Raleigh needs more resources to reduce a backlog of testing for the
substance that can delay meth cases a year or more. And more
education is needed, to warn the public about the drug's dangers and
to train law officers, firefighters and others to better battle this
scourge of rural America.