SURVEYED SHERIFFS SAY METH NATION'S TOP DRUG PROBLEM

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The crippling reach of methamphetamine abuse has
become the nation's leading drug problem affecting local
law-enforcement agencies, according to a survey of 500 sheriffs'
departments in 45 states.

More than half the sheriffs interviewed for a National Association of
Counties survey released Tuesday said they consider meth the worst
problem facing their departments.

"We're finding out that this is bigger problem than we thought," said
Larry Naake, executive director of the association. "Folks at the
state and federal level need to know about this."

The report comes soon after the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy restated its stance that marijuana remains the nation's
most substantial drug problem. Federal estimates show there are 15
million marijuana users, compared with the 1 million who might use
meth.

Dave Murray, a policy analyst for the White House, said he understood
that the meth problem moving through the nation was serious and
substantial. But he disagreed that it had reached the state of an epidemic.

"This thing is burning, and because it's burning we're going to put it
out," he said. "But we can't turn our back on other threats."

Sheriff Jon Marvel of western Indiana's Vigo County estimates that 80
percent of the inmates in his county's jail in Terre Haute are held on
meth-related charges.

He also points to an operating budget that has risen from $800,000 in
1999 to about $3.4 million last year as the best way to illustrate the
stranglehold meth has on the county's resources.

"I want it stopped and I want it stopped now, and there is no way
that's going to happen," Marvel said.