FIGHTING CRYSTAL METH

Mississippi's reputation as a center of "crystal meth" production and abuse
is sustained by just-released statistics showing an increased number of
arrests for making, possessing or selling the dangerous, homemade drug.

Geography and population (easy isolation) and a good climate for helping
the ingredients cook together in the right way make Mississippi attractive
for drug criminals.

The drug - made with ingredients that, sold separately, have been easily
purchased in grocery stores and pharmacies - is addictive, dangerous and
potentially deadly in all its phases.

Reporter Jennifer Farish's front-page article in Sunday's Daily Journal
restated and re-emphasized the seriousness with which crystal
methamphetamine is viewed by law enforcement at every level. The first,
heaviest enforcement weight falls on local officers like police chiefs,
sheriffs and their departments because that's the manpower closest to the
labs that produce the drug.

Average, law-abiding Northeast Mississippians can play a big role in
helping law enforcement crack down more on crystal meth.

The drug-making process requires unusual quantities of ordinary household
chemicals, over-the-counter medications and heat - lots of heat.

Sometimes the meth labs are large and elaborate and on a fixed site; a
recent arrest found makers with the lab in the bed of their pick-up truck.

Police and sheriffs' departments welcome helpful information from citizens
who see, hear, or in the case of crystal meth, smell things unusual and
suspicious.

Crystal meth sells well in the region's illicit drug market because it does
what lots of other abused drugs do - it helps users escape from reality.
However, in contrast to safe, prescription medications used correctly,
there's no correct or safe legal use for crystal meth.

It's like swallowing, inhaling or injecting the first phases of dementia,
drug-induced insanity. Users, scientists calculate, destroy about 1 percent
of brain function for every year of use. That effect, compounded over a few
years, doesn't leave much for normal function.

Every law enforcement agency will listen to reasonable tips and act on them.

Those unfortunate enough to have become addicted or know those who are
hooked can get help from Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous,
which have active groups in most cities and towns, and the Northeast
Mississippi chapter of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency,
whose number is (662) 841-0403.

Action is urgent because crystal meth instantly harms - and sometimes it kills.