STATE'S 'METH' FIGHT GETS FEDERAL SUPPORT

National drug czar John Walters visited the Roanoke Valley today to
lend moral support to Virginia's battle against a burgeoning
methamphetamine problem.

Walters praised a "meth watch" program that encourages pharmacists and
retail workers to report large or suspicious sales of cold medicine
and household products typically used to make methamphetamine.

The number of meth labs raided by police in the region more than
doubled last year. But by acting quickly, Virginia can manage the
problem before it reaches the epidemic levels seen in other states,
Walters said.

"This in an example of what we have to do to keep Virginia from
suffering what California and Oklahoma and Missouri have suffered," he
said of the meth watch program and legislative proposals to beef up
criminal penalties.

Walters, appointed by President Bush to head the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, appeared at a news conference with
Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore.