COLBERT, LAUDERDALE SHERIFFS GET $50,000 TO COMBAT METH

MUSCLE SHOALS -- Sheriffs in Colbert and Lauderdale counties received
financial assistance Monday in their fight against methamphetamine. Colbert
County Sheriff Ronnie May and Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis each
left U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer's office at Northwest-Shoals Community College
with $50,000 checks.

There is no matching money involved in the award. The sheriffs said they
plan to use the money for items such as night vision goggles, protective
suits, surveillance equipment and training for their officers. May said the
meth problem in Colbert County is not as bad as it is in some Alabama
counties. He said the county's drug task force has been fairly successful
in following leads and making cases on meth producers. "Meth and crack
cocaine are the two primary narcotics we keep hearing about in the Shoals
area," May said.

May said he would use the money to purchase items that are needed in the
course of a narcotics investigation, such as surveillance equipment,
digital cameras, digital recording devices, protective masks and clothing.
May said he wants to replace older equipment and purchase additional items
so they would be available to every officer.

Cramer said Jackson County was one of the first Alabama counties to have an
influx of crystal meth. He said meth producers like isolated, rural
settings to set up their clandestine laboratories.

Cramer said the money given to the two departments Monday was made
available through the Community Oriented Policing Services program. He
hopes that additional money will eventually be available through a new
piece of legislation dubbed the Combat Meth Act, which would provide law
enforcement and prosecutors with additional resources. "Methamphetamine has
become one of the biggest drug threats in the state of Alabama," Cramer
said in a news release. "The gaining popularity of methamphetamine abuse in
small towns and communities is directly responsible for the increase in
thefts, violent assaults, burglaries, child abuse and neglect." Willis said
he would use his grant money to purchase surveillance equipment, including
night vision goggles and video equipment that would operate in the dark. He
said the department does not have that type of equipment at its disposal.
Willis said meth activity has been increasing in Lauderdale County.
"Everybody's going to it because it's a cheaper drug," Willis said. "Maybe
we can get a hold on it before it gets too big."

Cramer said fighting methamphetamine and dealing with the effects of its
abuse, especially the effect on the children of meth addicts, will be
costly. "We've never faced a drug issue this scary," Cramer said. Colbert
County District Attorney Bryce Graham Jr. said his office will vigorously
prosecute cases involving methamphetamine possession and production.

"There will not be much sympathy coming from the DA's office in these
cases," Graham said.