GOVERNOR, LEGISLATORS BEGIN COUNTERATTACK ON METH

Earlier this year, we praised the work of Gov. Phil Bredesen's task force
on methamphetamine abuse, convened last summer, and called on the General
Assembly to craft those recommendations into effective legislation to help
quell the growing meth epidemic in Tennessee.

State lawmakers have risen to that challenge.

The Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would make it far more
difficult to obtain the over-the-counter drugs that are used in meth's
manufacture, and a companion bill is moving swiftly through the House.

In moving to place pseudo-ephedrine-based cold medications behind the
counter, requiring customer identification, limiting the quantity of such
medications that can be purchased at any one time, and increasing criminal
sanctions for those engaged in meth lab activities, state lawmakers have
shown they understand the stakes involved in this drug scourge.

In addition to this legislation, Gov. Bredesen has announced a new Web
site: MethFree Tennessee at www.methfreetn.org dedicated solely to
information about meth's dangers. It's just one part of a comprehensive
public education campaign that will eventually involve everyone from law
enforcement and court officials to schoolchildren.

The help is certainly needed.

There's little doubt that meth abuse and clandestine meth labs pose a grave
threat, particularly to children. In its last report on the subject, the
Department of Children's Services reported that in roughly a year's time,
more than 750 children were placed in state custody as a result of meth
laboratory seizures and incidents. Particularly at risk are infants and
toddlers living in homes in which toxic lab emissions are present.

There are other illegal drugs out there, but meth's manufacture and
addiction rates make it a unique drug danger to community health and the
environment. And that danger increases daily. Last year, law enforcement
authorities seized 1,594 labs in the state - a number exceeded only by
Missouri.

As a result of this explosive, exponential growth, Tennessee now accounts
for a staggering 75 percent of all the meth lab seizures in the entire
southeastern United States.

The problems of meth production and addiction are complex. But thanks to
the thoughtful work of the governor's task force and the quick action of
the legislature, Tennessee is developing an effective strategy to deal with
the problem.

Given the immense scope of the problem, fighting illegal meth labs and the
poisonous product they make won't be easy. But in acting quickly and in a
spirit of bipartisan cooperation, Gov. Bredesen and state lawmakers have
helped tilt the odds, at long last, against the criminals. In doing so,
Tennessee residents can look forward with confidence that we have the
programs in place to begin a much-needed counterattack against this
pernicious adversary.