WOLF CRIES WARNING ABOUT METH EPIDEMIC

Sheriffs across the nation say the real drug problem is not marijuana,
cocaine or heroin, says U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R, 10th district).

It's the crystal substance, methamphetamine, dubbed years ago "poor man's
cocaine," that has become the nation's No. 1 drug problem, a terrible
epidemic that no one saw coming, Wolf said.

Law enforcement officers nationwide are finding a huge trend of addicts and
peddlers setting up makeshift labs in homes, motels, and even in the back
of automobiles. The recipe of common ingredients such as cold medicine,
iodine and battery acid is readily found on the Internet, police say.

While no meth labs have been found and no recent arrests for possession
have occurred in Clarke County, Sheriff Tony Roper says the county cannot
feel isolated from the problem as the drug is trafficked in the region, up
and down I-81 and routes 50 and 7.

In Winchester a mobile lab was busted a couple of months ago by the local
Northwest Virginia Regional Drug Task Force, Roper said.

The drug is "a big time upper," said the sheriff. "That's what gets people
hooked on it."

"It's hugely addictive," Roper said.

Wolf noted that the drug epidemic may seem like a problem that's occurring
somewhere else, but peddlers and manufacturers of the illegal drug have
been caught in Harrisonburg and New Market, Wolf said.

"It's a big issue," Wolf said last week in a visit to the Times-Courier.
"It's beginning to roll up the Shenandoah Valley."

The congressman believes that education is very important and he is
sounding the call for people to be aware of the drug's dangers.

He's not alone.

The "meth epidemic," as Newsweek Magazine describes the phenomenon in its
Aug. 8 issue, is being widely discussed in the national press this summer.

White House deputy drug czar Scott Burns was quoted last month by The
Christian Science Monitor as saying, meth is "the most destructive,
dangerous, terrible drug that's come along in a long time."

The problems with the drug are far reaching.

When people set up labs and cook the drug, the fumes and byproducts are
extremely toxic and long lasting, according to police.

Roper, who himself served as a former member of the local drug task force,
said the task force is sending members for training on what measures of
safety are needed for exposure and disposal of these labs.

Meth not only is toxic when cooked. Use of the drug quickly damages brain
cells and teeth, the sheriff said.

People snort, smoke and shoot the crystal substance into their veins. It
gives many hours of a "high" and users sometimes go for days without sleep,
say drug enforcement officials.

Anyone anywhere considering casual use of the substance should be warned
that the drug quickly captures people into senseless addiction, Wolf said.

Reports in the national press that Wolf delivered to the Times-Courier
describe soccer moms, middle school students, urban professionals and
people all across the nation -- not just some biker gangs in California and
some rural residents in remote areas as has been reported in the past --
are getting hooked and finding their lives destroyed.

Wolf is now asking local broadcasters to air public service announcements,
he said.

"We're funding programs for it. We're asking the DEA (Drug Enforcement
Agency) to get active," he said.

Wolf was instrumental in getting a DEA office set up in Winchester, said
Jim Wink, a local businessman and retired CIA agent who has worked as a
volunteer aide for seven years to State Del. Joe T. May (33rd district).

Roper also praised Wolf for his efforts in getting federal funding support
for the regional task force.

The network of area police started out as a force against methamphetamine,
Wolf said. It now is also focusing on investigations of gang activities, he
said.

The two -- meth and gangs -- go hand and hand, Roper said.

Methamphetamine is not a new drug. It was first synthesized by a Japanese
chemist in 1919, according to Newsweek. Soldiers on both sides in World War
II used it to keep alert and motivated. In the 1950s, it was commonly
prescribed as a diet aid. The federal government criminalized the drug in
1970 for most uses.

The drug was centered in California for years but has now moved to the
center of the country, Wolf said. In Missouri alone, drug enforcement
officers have busted 8,000 labs between 2002 and 2004, Newsweek reports.

A survey taken nationwide indicates sheriffs across the country rank
methamphetamine as the No. 1 drug they battle today.

"In a survey of 500 law-enforcement agencies in 45 states released last
month by the National Association of Counties, 58 percent said meth is
their biggest drug problem, compared with only 19 percent for cocaine, 17
percent for pot and 3 percent for heroin," according to Newsweek.

"As of 2003, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 12.3
million Americans had tried methamphetamine at least once -- up nearly 40
percent over 2000 and 156 percent over 1996," Christian Science Monitor
reported last month.

Wolf wants people to know that this drug is a serious threat.

"It's very hard to ever get off it," Wolf said.