METH MATH

IN A TEXTBOOK case of Washington being out of touch with what's
happening in the country, the federal government has declared
marijuana the nation's biggest drug problem, ignoring an epidemic of
methamphetamine addiction in the West, the South, and the Midwest.
Local law enforcement officials are howling because the Bush
administration is actually planning to drop an $804 million grant
program that has helped them deal with the proliferation of makeshift
laboratories producing meth, a drug whose danger is heightened by its low cost.

The White House bases the higher priority it places on marijuana on
data showing there are 15 million regular marijuana users and just 1
million meth users. But that bean-counting approach overlooks how
much more devastating meth is to users. The drug produces an intense
rush followed by a crash and is highly addictive. A survey by the
National Association of Counties released last week found that
officials in nearly 60 percent of all counties listed meth as their
most serious drug problem. Marijuana, at 17 percent, was third on the
list, after cocaine, at 19 percent.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration itself says 7,438 meth
labs were busted in 1999 and 17,033 last year. The toll that meth
takes is especially visible in the large number of children
nationwide who have to go into shelters or foster homes because their
parents have been arrested for meth production or use or are too
incapacitated by the drug to care for their youngsters.

In the survey of county officials, 40 percent of child welfare
officials reported that meth had led to an increase in the number of
children removed from homes. Social service agencies say the degree
of neglect and hunger suffered by children of parents who use meth is
greater than with any other drug. The drug also leads to higher rates
of burglaries, identity theft, and domestic abuse.

In many states with severe meth problems, laws have been passed or
are being weighed to limit sales of cold medicines with ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, ingredients used in meth production. Senators Dianne
Feinstein, of California, a Democrat, and Jim Talent, of Missouri, a
Republican, have sponsored federal legislation that would limit
purchases of cold medicine by any individual on a monthly basis. How
useful such measures would be on a long-term basis is questionable,
however, since much of the meth is coming in from foreign sources.

There is a strong consensus among local officials against ending the
grant program, which coordinated and financed antidrug efforts among
local, state, and federal authorities. In setting priorities for
federal funds, combatting meth should rate higher than dissuading
high school students from smoking marijuana.