TOUGH TALK IN A TOUGH FIGHT

Our Position: Words Alone Won't Win Battle Against Meth

Three Midwestern states, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, have joined
forces in what has truly become a war to put an end to the
near-epidemic spread of the manufacture and use of methamphetamine.
The alliance is aimed at cracking down - and cracking down hard - on
the illegal transport across state lines of the drug and the
ingredients used to manufacture it.

Officials from the three states gathered in Dubuque on Wednesday to
announce their plans and to warn those who would manufacture the drug
that obtaining meth ingredients in neighboring states will result in
a reservation for violators to spend some time - hopefully, a long
time - in a federal prison.

Iowa is embarking on a statewide project to provide locks for
anhydrous ammonia tanks, which meth cooks have been stealing from to
make their product. Officials fear the project will force meth cooks
in Iowa to travel to other Midwestern states to get their ingredients.

In addition, Iowa passed a law in May making meth's key ingredient,
pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance. Iowa officials said meth
labs have decreased by 80 percent since the law was enacted. A
similar measure passed in Wisconsin, where officials are also
reporting fewer meth labs.

Illinois has not passed such a law, but officials from that state
said tougher standards could be implemented in January. Similar to
Iowa, the measure would force many medicines containing this
ingredient behind pharmacy counters and require purchasers to show
identification and sign a log.

"Iowa now has one of the strongest pseudoephedrine laws in the
nation," said Charles Lawson, a U.S. attorney for northern Iowa.
"However, we cannot let our guard down. We came together today to
send a strong warning. ... We will all aggressively enforce and
prosecute those involved in the manufacture of meth."

"If somebody thinks they can avoid Iowa's law by going to another
state to get their ingredients, they are sorely mistaken," said Ken
Carter, the director for Iowa's Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

That's tough talk indeed. Our hope is that their actions will speak
louder than their words.