SEN. CANTWELL PROPOSES DOUBLING FEDERAL FUNDING TO FIGHT METH

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell proposed legislation Friday to boost the
national fight against methamphetamine, a drug which she said is
ravaging Washington communities.

Meeting in Kalama with Cowlitz County leaders, Cantwell outlined her
proposed "Confronting Methamphetamine Act," which would give
communities more control over how they use federal funds earmarked for
the war on meth.

If approved, Cantwell's bill would nearly double anti-meth funding, to
$100 million, the Democratic senator said.

Local leaders in the fight against the drug applauded Cantwell's
proposal, but said Friday that past experience made them skeptical.

The problem with some federal programs is that they reward programs
that already have resources, said Cowlitz County Sheriff Bill Mahoney.
"The rich get richer and the poor get poorer."

The strings attached to federal grants don't always make sense for
Cowlitz County, Mahoney added --- money might be available to build
crime labs but not pay salaries, for example.

Cantwell said her bill would decide funding by population, rather than
by the wealth of a community. And once allocated, each community could
decide how best to use the money, she said.

"Meth is a national problem, but the solution lies in the hands of the
people fighting it at the local level," Cantwell said. "The federal
government can support their efforts by providing a stable source of
increased funding, which is why I'm committed to fighting for my
legislation once Congress reconvenes next January."

In 2002, meth enforcement and clean-up efforts received $70 million in
federal funding. The 2005 federal appropriation for battling the drug
was down to $52.5 million.

The decline in funding is partly due to how the fight against meth has
been handled by Congress, according to a news release issued by
Cantwell's office. Meth funding has depended on legislative earmarks
sponsored by individual lawmakers, the news release said.

Homeland Security funding may also be to blame, Mahoney
suggested.

"It's great to have Homeland Security," Mahoney said. "But a lot of
those dollars, if not all of them, were robbed from other programs."

"Meth is blowing a hole in our budget," Cowlitz County commissioner
George Raiter said. "That's obvious. But it's also really blowing a
hole in our youth. ... Meanwhile, our overall budget continues to shrink."