ANDERSON WAS CORRECT ABOUT SCOURGE OF METH

Three years ago, while abuse of the prescription painkiller OxyContin
was still dominating media reports, Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne
Anderson presciently predicted a new drug scourge was rapidly
advancing. And, Anderson warned, "It will make OxyContin look like candy."

The drug was methamphetamine - "meth" in street parlance - but also
known as "crank," "speed" or "ice." Whatever its drug-culture name,
meth has spread throughout our region, making Anderson's words all
too prophetic.

As if to punctuate his warning, the explosion of an illegal meth lab
occurred just days later in Bulls Gap, killing two men and leaving
another in intensive care. In the three years since, the production,
distribution and use of meth have grown to epidemic levels, not only
on the local level but across much of the nation.

The federal government still characterizes marijuana as the leading
drug problem in America, but a new survey of 500 county law
enforcement agencies shows those on the front lines strongly
disagree. The 45-state study by the National Association of Counties
shows local law enforcement uniformly identifies methamphetamine, far
and away, as their number one drug concern. Clearly, much of that
concern is driven by the exponential rise in meth lab activity: 87
percent of law enforcement agencies reported increases in
methamphetamine-related arrests in the last three years, and 62
percent reported increases in lab seizures. Tennessee was among 17
states reporting a 100 percent increase in meth-related arrests in
the past three years.

There are other illegal drugs out there to be sure, but meth's
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 has
reported that in roughly a year's time, more than 750 children were
placed in state custody as a result of meth laboratory seizures and
incidents. Particularly at risk are infants and toddlers living in
homes in which toxic lab emissions are present.

Like many states, Tennessee has taken steps this year 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 a new 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 state response to the meth crisis has been helpful, but much more
needs to be done, particularly on the federal level where drug
enforcement efforts obviously need to be refocused. Congress could
provide a good start by restoring an $804 million federal Justice
Assistance Program, slated for elimination in 2006, that has helped
finance drug-fighting efforts between different jurisdictions in the past.

As the burgeoning number of lab busts demonstrates, the fight against
methamphetamine is an increasingly tough one requiring the effort of
every level of law enforcement from the local to the federal. 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.