WINNING WAR AGAINST METH WILL REQUIRE UNITED ACTION

Methamphetamine use is well-entrenched in many areas of this country,
including West Virginia. Some experts even think meth is beginning to
outstrip marijuana in popularity among teen drug users.

In fact, meth labs have been discovered in our region in ever increasing
numbers by law enforcement personnel.

According to an Associated Press story on the subject, there were 222 meth
lab drug busts in West Virginia in 2004 and there have been more than 140
this year, a rate that will far exceed last year's total.

Lawmakers and law enforcement personnel in West Virginia are acutely aware
that meth is a growing problem here.

The state Legislature has passed a measure restricting the sale of certain
cold medicines that are used to make methamphetamine in dangerous homemade
labs. Law enforcement employees and pharmacists think the bill should be
somewhat effective if it is signed into law by Gov. Joe Manchin, but they
realize it will only slow production.

"Any bill that prohibits the manufacture of meth is a step in the right
direction," said Harrison County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Albert Marano. "And
it gives law enforcement another tool in trying to prevent the rapid spread
of this drug."

However, it will take increasing vigilance by law enforcement to find new
labs to help turn the tide in this new front in the war on drugs.
Unfortunately, it won't be easy, and the market is already there for this
insidious substance.

One way to combat the problem is for society to be prepared to deal with
current and future meth addicts by having drug treatment programs targeted
at that group.

Meth is here, but for how long? Effective policing tactics and laws only go
so far. The ultimate responsibility lies with society as a whole -- one
which cares enough to lend a helping hand when someone has stumbled and
fallen prey to the allure of what drugs promise and then is victimized by
what they actually deliver.