MAY DEADLINE SET FOR STATE METH PLAN

By the end of May, West Virginia should have a comprehensive strategy to
combat methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Kasey Warner said at the close of a
statewide meth conference Wednesday.

Over the next month, hundreds of West Virginians who attended the "Building
Meth-Free Communities" summit this week will critique a list of
recommendations to fight the drug, Warner said. A final report should be
released by May 25.

A draft report will be issued early next week, said conference
co-coordinator Colleen Copple.

After the final report is released, Gov. Joe Manchin and the state's
congressional delegation will be briefed, Warner said. His office will also
send a copy of the report to every county commission, sheriff's department
and municipality in the state, plus every candidate for statewide office in
2006 and anyone else who wants one.

"Then we'll really have to get to work," Warner said.

Warner appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney John Frail to head his office's
meth response. He said every government agency in the state should have a
person in charge of its strategy to eradicate the drug.

Warner said the conference participants came up with 188 different
recommendations to combat meth and treat its victims. Those will be boiled
down to a simpler plan with clear goals and plans to reach them, he said.

More than 300 people from law enforcement, public health, education and
other interested parties attended the first statewide meth conference this
week at the Charleston Marriott, which Warner's office sponsored.

In 2004, 145 meth labs were found in West Virginia after 75 were found in
2003, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.