FIGHTING A METH SCOURGE: LEGISLATORS SHOULD MAKE NEW BILLS A PRIORITY

Across Lane County and the rest of Oregon, law enforcement officials
readily admit they're losing the war against methamphetamine.

Anyone doubting that assessment need only pick up the newspaper and
read about violent crimes linked, directly or indirectly, to meth.
Methamphetamine deaths have soared in recent years, as have
meth-related incidents of child abuse, domestic violence, identify
theft, burglary and a host of other crimes. Law enforcement officials
estimate that meth is responsible for at least 85 percent of the
state's property crimes. Child-protection officials say 70 percent of
the children in foster care come from homes devastated by meth.

"Methamphetamine is the scourge of Lane County, and it is destroying
the very fabric of this community," former Lane County Sheriff Jan
Clements wrote in a guest viewpoint last year.

Clements added that the meth trade "won't go away by itself." He was
right. It will require an intense strategy balancing enforcement,
prevention and treatment.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Oregon Legislature hope to provide some of
these tools. They plan to introduce a number of anti-meth proposals
that deserve to be assigned a high priority.

The governor is calling for the creation of a statewide law
enforcement team that will crack down on meth operations. Other
proposals include a bill that increases penalties for manufacturing
meth when children are present, and another that provides the
long-term, intensive treatment programs that are essential to getting
people off the drug.

Senate Republicans plan to push their own package of bills, including
mandatory minimum sentences for meth dealers, producers and users, and
harsher penalties for possession of meth-making chemicals.

Since most of these bills have yet to be introduced, it's too early to
judge their merits. But it's safe to say that lawmakers will have an
ample selection of new anti-meth bills from which to create a
balanced, effective package.

Meanwhile, lawmakers should resist efforts by the grocery industry to
reverse new state rules requiring customers to show identification
when buying over-the-counter cold medications that contain ingredients
used to manufacture meth. The new rules, put into effect by the state
Board of Pharmacy last fall, also limit the sale of such medicines to
grocery stores that have pharmacies.

Industry lobbyists argue that the rules are a burden on consumers,
which is lobbyspeak for "hard on sales." Most sniffling Oregonians
will happily endure the minimal inconveniences of flashing I.D.s or
visiting pharmacies if doing so helps combat Oregon's meth epidemic.

More remains to be done at both the state and federal levels. A recent
White House report recommended a battery of new federal strategies,
including federal monitoring and control of imports of ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine, principal ingredients in the manufacture of meth.

At a news conference last week, a bipartisan group of federal
lawmakers, including Oregon's U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith,
announced legislation that would place new restrictions on buying cold
medications, and provide $30 million annually to help authorities in
urban and rural areas combat the meth trade.

Like all strategies, both at the federal and state levels, their
effectiveness depends on political willpower and adequate long-term
funding. Without them, the meth plague will continue to devour
communities throughout this state.