PREVENTIVE RULES CAN CURB METHAMPHETAMINE

Harsher Punishments For Making The Drug Aren't The Answer. Regulate Sales
Of Its Ingredients.

Unfortunately for Southwest Virginia, methamphetamine has become the new
OxyContin.

The region, which became a hotbed of OxyContin abuse and trafficking in
recent years, now is battling a new scourge: methamphetamine. Attorney
General Jerry Kilgore is right to join federal authorities to tackle
Virginia's drug problem.

But his heavy-handed proposal to double prison terms for those convicted of
manufacturing meth fails to confront the problem at the front end.
Preventive measures are preferable to stop the spread of the powerfully
addictive drug made with over-the-counter cold medicines and household
chemicals.

Virginia should take a nod from other states, which have enacted aggressive
regulation to curb the availability of the ingredients used to make meth.

In Oklahoma, lawmakers passed legislation this year requiring stores to
stock medicines such as Sudafed and Claritin-D behind pharmacy counters.
The law also requires customers to show identification and sign a log when
buying the products.

Such measures merit serious consideration in Virginia, where state
authorities have raided 78 methamphetamine labs this year. Of those,
three-fourths were found in a five-county area of Southwest Virginia. The
number of labs raided this year is more than double the 34 discovered in 2003.

Earlier this year, Kilgore announced a voluntary initiative in which store
clerks notify authorities about customers who make bulk purchases of
ingredients necessary to make methamphetamine.

The "Meth Watch" program has made Virginia residents aware of the dangers
of the substance, both for its users and the public.

But stricter regulation to prevent the manufacture of the drug is
essential. By joining efforts, authorities in Virginia have taken an
encouraging step. Now they should move aggressively to halt Virginia's
latest drug scourge.