DRUG TASK FORCE COMBATS METH PRODUCTION

Alabama Attorney General Troy King has created a methamphetamine task force
to rid the state of the drug.

The announcement, made April 20, has support from prosecutors, law
enforcement and victims of the drug.

The task force is charged with creating a plan to combat the production of
methamphetamine and related crimes in Alabama.

The force has 26 members, including law enforcement, prosecutors and
physicians.

Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale, a member of the task force, recently
announced the arrest of a man suspected of running the largest meth lab in
his county's history.

Michael O'Neil Palmer, 42, is being held without bond on charges of
manufacturing methamphetamine.

King wants to move some common over-the-counter drugs that contain meth
ingredients behind the counter.

There is a bill in the state Legislature, sponsored by Rep. Frank McDaniel,
D-Albertville, to reduce the amount of medicines containing pseudoephedrine
people can buy at one time.

Pseudoephedrine is one of the many ingredients needed to make methamphetamine.

In addition to making the ingredients harder to obtain, King added that he
is looking for the task force to help in protecting children from
methamphetamine

King wants the task force to outline what steps to take when children are
involved in a methamphetamine case.

King also said he wants stricter punishments for those involved with
methamphetamine. The more severe the crime, the stiffer the penalty needs
to be, King said.

A House bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Johnson, R-Talladega, would make
exposing children to meth labs a class C felony. Punishment would be one to
10 years in prison and fines.

King said the task force's ideas will also come from outside.

"This is not meant to be a closed group," King said. "We need all of the
input and information we can get."

King said that the task force is looking at other states for remedies to
the solution.

"We need to find people that are having success," King said.

According to the DEA's Web site, methamphetamine is the biggest drug threat
in Alabama.

The said reports that the majority of methamphetamine distribution comes
from drug trafficking organizations.

In Alabama in 2004, 296 meth labs were appropriated, which is seven more
than in 2003 and 39 more than in 2002. But while the percentage of meth
labs continues to increase, the number of drug-violation arrests has
declined since 2000.

On the Alabama Department of Public Safety Web site, it was reported that
between Jan. 1, 1998, and Aug. 18, 2001, there were 117 meth labs reported.

Isolated rural communities in Alabama may offer the biggest problem to the
task force because the bulk of methamphetamine is found in these areas.

Eight counties, Baldwin, DeKalb, Etowah, Houston, Jackson, Madison,
Marshall and Walker, have seen the largest increase in methamphetamine
production and distribution.

Euphoria, increased energy and increased appetite are all temporary effects
of the stimulant.

Paranoia, malnutrition, insomnia and, in severe cases, death have occurred.
Methamphetamine can be taken orally, snorted in the form of powder,
injected or smoked.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones, who is not a member of the task force, said
the most dangerous thing about methamphetamine is how easy it is to obtain.

"The ingredients to manufacture methamphetamine have been attainable by the
general public," Jones said. "That makes it easier to manufacture when you
can obtain the ingredients readily."

Jones said one of the state's main goals should be to make it more
difficult to obtain certain ingredients of the drug.