JUDGE SEARCHES FOR METH ANSWERS

WHEATLAND -- America is losing the war against drugs, U.S. District Judge
Clarence Brimmer says.

And while he doesn't think mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug
offenders are the best way to combat the problem, the Cheyenne-based judge
said he doesn't have many answers.

"I think we have to be wary of where our society is going," Brimmer said
Thursday during a drug conference hosted by the Wheatland Police
Department. "The long, severe sentence doesn't diminish the crime; all it
does is relieve it. It costs $59 a day in the federal system to maintain a
prisoner at the taxpayers' expense.

"We're filling our prisons with drug offenders, and I hope really that
there could be a better answer to that," he said. "I don't think
legalization of drugs will work, and I'm afraid to try it. The only thing I
can say is maybe we need to try some other tactics. Maybe some way you
could do social programs that would be intensive, but would also guide
them. That's my only hope at this point."

When Brimmer was Wyoming's attorney general in the 1970s, he said, drug
abuse was not the major problem facing the law enforcement system. But as
the years have progressed and as he became a federal judge, most of the
cases he listens to are drug-related.

Brimmer developed the Division of Criminal Investigation in the 1970s to
help local law enforcement deal with extra problems, such as drugs. That
was one of the best things he could have ever done as attorney general, he
said. Now DCI continually is invited by local law enforcement agencies
across the state to help with extra drug investigations, as well as other
criminal activity.

Brimmer said since 1975 the drug scene has changed drastically.

"Once in a while you would see a minor case, but in the nearly 30 years
since then, there has been a drastic expansion on our court facilities,
mostly because of drugs," he said.

For instance he said, Cheyenne used to have one probation officer, and now
it has 14; the clerk of court used to have four deputy clerks, and now
there's a staff of more than 20; one judge used to handle the caseload, and
now there are three.

Brimmer said since the 1990s, methamphetamine has been the primary drug in
Wyoming in federal, state and local law enforcement, with meth labs
multiplying as the years go on.

The judge said small "mom and pop" meth labs produce about an ounce of meth
a week, but now there are super meth labs that can produce 10 to 50 pounds
per week.

"And that's what's coming in, and that's what our patrolmen are catching on
the roads and finding in our cities," he said.

DCI statistics show that one in 200 Wyomingites over the age of 12 has used
meth in the last 30 days; one in 100 has used meth once in the past year.

"In Wyoming, there are a lot of serious meth users," Brimmer said. "In
2004, four children were killed in Wyoming by meth-related circumstances."

The Governor's Take

Gov. Dave Freudenthal also spoke Thursday. He said that when he became a
U.S. attorney, it was "a real eye-opener" for what was actually going on in
the state, particularly with meth.

"Even then meth was considered an issue, but it had not taken on the
dimensions as it has now in this state," he said. "It was an emerging
issue, and it was becoming more and more frequent here."

He said a lot of the drug cases then were people traveling through Wyoming
on Interstate 80 with the drug and getting stopped by highway patrolmen for
traffic violations. Then after further investigation, after suspicious
activity or responses, the patrolmen would search the vehicles and find drugs.

The Legislature this year appropriated $5 million to continue the emphasis
on various forms of law enforcement on drugs. Plus, Freudenthal said, the
state is trying to create a set of programs to respond to meth addiction,
but it is "incredibly expensive."

The federal government discontinued funding for programs this year which
had previously been relied upon by the state, the governor said.

"It's not a 28-day dry-out," he said. "Realistically you will spend
somewhere close to nine months re-establishing the proper chemicals in the
brain, and then after that it's a lifelong issue, something the person
struggles with for the rest of their lives."

Freudenthal said as he's been traveling around Wyoming he is finding out
that it is becoming a problem for the state to produce a drug-free labor
pool, and it is becoming a big concern for employers.

"The highway patrol, what they're discovering is when they make a stop, the
people may not have drugs on them, they have a urine sample with them to
pass a drug test," he said.

Freudenthal said it will take a set of community leaders over time to take
on the issue and explore what works for each individual community.

"Some things that work in some communities won't work in others," he said.
"What works in Cheyenne doesn't work where I grew up (Thermopolis). The
state shouldn't dictate what they do in communities. In terms of what we
will do in the future, you will continue to see a significant amount of
money spent in terms of police officers, DCI teams. And to let you know,
the costs are not going down, they're going to go up."