METH PACT DRAWS SIGNERS

Nine Island County agencies agreed on a set of guidelines to follow for
protecting children endangered by drug use. Representatives of those
agencies gathered Thursday at the Law and Justice Center in Coupeville for
the official signing.

The memorandum sets guidelines for dealing with children found at the sites
of methamphetamine production or distribution. Representatives of multiple
agencies, including the Island County Prosecutor's Office, local law
enforcement, Whidbey General Hospital, Naval Hospital Oak Harbor, and the
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services signed on to the
guidelines.

The document -- the Island County Drug Endangered Children Protocol -- is
the culmination of a year of writing by the involved agencies, all of which
are members of the Island County Meth Action Team.

"This is a celebration of the tremendous amount of work that went into the
document," said team chair Holly Jones on Thursday.

Jones said the team was making changes to the 10-page document as late as
Wednesday afternoon. The document will be adopted by its signers on an
annual basis and will be changed as needed.

The Meth Action Team formed 2 1/2 years ago and is funded by a $4,000
grant. As many as 40 agency representatives, including the signatories, and
community volunteers contributed to the protocol.

Several items are still in process and have not been resolved to the
satisfaction of at least one of the signatories.

In January 2005, Island County Sheriff Mike Hawley stated that he would not
sign on to the first draft of the protocol because he felt its requirements
are unrealistic. On Thursday he reversed his position and signed the
protocol. He said he expects the Meth Action Team will be able to improve
what he sees as the document's weak points.

The document charges law enforcement personnel with collecting urine
samples from children found at meth production sites, and decontaminating
them at the scene. Hawley said it is impractical and costly to expect
detectives on the scene of a methamphetamine arrest to take these actions.

"I don't think they totally understand the role of law enforcement," Hawley
said during an interview following the signing event.

"Our mission is to focus on the safely of our officers and those people at
the scene including children and suspects."

He said he signed the protocol because he believes it has promise.

"It is a good, solid foundation for agencies involved in dealing with
drug-endangered families," Hawley said.

Jan Smith, spokeswoman for the ICSO said over the past 10 years, children
have been found in homes of drug users and or sellers, but they have not
been found in any location where meth was being manufactured.

The protocol is a voluntary document; agency signers cannot be penalized
for failing to live up to its requirements.

Meth Labs More Common In Island County

Even though law enforcement has been raiding fewer and fewer meth
production sites throughout the state for the past few years, Island County
is seeing more of these incidents.

Fifteen meth labs and sites were reported in 2004 in Island County where
meth was being produced.

Fourteen were reported in 2003, and five each in 2002 and 2001.

Island County is not alone. Statewide, 11 other counties saw an increase in
meth lab discoveries in 2004. Twenty-four experienced a decrease, according
to the state Department of Ecology.

Statewide, the number of meth labs reported dropped 9.6 percent in 2004,
with a total of 1,337 labs and dump sites made found by law enforcement
compared to 1,480 sites in 2003. This reversed a steady climb in statewide
numbers that began in the 1990s and ended in 2001.

Sheriff Hawley said the main factors for the increase is the island's rural
environment.