BEEBE: KEEP METH ADDICTS IN PRISON

Attorney General Speaks To Police At State Convention

Incarceration of methamphetamine users is central to beating Arkansas' drug
problem, Attorney General Mike Beebe said Thursday.

Beebe's comments followed his speech to the Arkansas Municipal Police
Association's convention held in Searcy, during which Beebe said Arkansas
was making headway in the ongoing struggle with methamphetamine.

Beebe, who is a candidate for governor in 2006, said that since a law
restricting the availability of cold medications used to cook meth went in
effect this spring, the number of meth labs in Arkansas has decreased by half.

Following his address to more than 50 police officers, Beebe said that
incarceration helps addicts by separating them from methamphetamine.

"Part of the punishment has to include a long enough period of
incarceration," Beebe said.

Deputy Prosecutor Becky Reed said that in White County first time offenders
charged with meth possession are generally not sentenced to prison. Instead
they are sent to a regional punishment facility or placed on probation.
Reed prosecutes White County's drug cases.