METH OFFENDER REGISTRY HELPS TO PROTECT PUBLIC

Should you have the right to know if a convicted sex offender lives
in your neighborhood? In the 1990s, the reaction to that provocative
question formed the basis of Tennessee law that created a Web site,
listing the names and addresses of sex offenders.

Now, Tennessee law enforcement officials are trying a similar tactic
against those who manufacture methamphetamine.

Tennessee's Methamphetamine Offender Registry, located at
http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/methor/, allows Internet users to
enter = a name or county and retrieve those convicted of meth drug
offenses since March 30, 2005. Like the state's sex offender
registry, the idea behind the meth list is to allow neighbors and
apartment and other property owners to know if an individual has a
history of this type of criminal behavior.

Given the potential hazards of meth manufacture, which include
explosions and toxic fumes that can sear the lungs and make an
apartment or house virtually uninhabitable afterward, such
information is as welcome as it is warranted.

Some argue that the meth registry represents a sort of stigmatizing
double punishment for those who have already served their time in
prison. The same argument was made about Tennessee's sex offender
registry. But, despite civil liberties advocates, the sex offender
registry survived after several unsuccessful court challenges. Now,
all 50 states have some form of sex offender registry. Given the
virulent spread of methamphetamine, it's a good bet that other states
will soon move to adopt a meth offender registry similar to Tennessee's.

There are other illegal drugs out there to be sure, but meth's deadly
method of manufacture and addiction rates make it a unique drug
danger to community health and the environment. And that danger
increases daily. Last year, law enforcement authorities seized 1,594
labs in Tennessee - a number exceeded only by Missouri.

As a result of this explosive growth, Tennessee now accounts for a
staggering 75 percent of all the meth lab seizures in the entire
southeastern United States.

Tragically, meth abuse and clandestine labs are increasingly harming
children as well. The Tennessee Department of Children's Services
reported last year that more than 750 children were placed in state
custody as a result of meth laboratory seizures and incidents.

Tennessee has already taken steps to make meth's ingredients harder
to obtain by moving pseudo-ephedrine-based cold medications off store
shelves and behind the counter, requiring customer identification and
limiting the quantity of such medications that can be purchased at
any one time. As well, criminal sanctions have been stiffened for
those involved in the manufacture and distribution of meth.

In addition to this legislation, Gov. Bredesen has created another
Web site: MethFree Tennessee at www.methfreetn.org dedicated solely
to information about meth's dangers. It's just one part of a
comprehensive public education campaign that will eventually involve
everyone from law enforcement and court officials to schoolchildren.

The methamphetamine offender registry is not a silver bullet, but it
is a valuable tool that will help address this crisis.

As the burgeoning number of lab busts demonstrates, the fight against
methamphetamine is an increasingly tough one. While that effort will
take time and results will be hard to measure for some time to come,
it's a fight we must wage and win.