JAIL NOT THE SOLUTION TO METH PROBLEM

Sunday's editorial may give some Iowans the idea that if judges would
"just" lock up the obvious troublemakers, the meth problem would go away
and we could go back to the way things were 10 years ago. The sad fact is
that stiffer sentences will not deter meth addicts. With many county jails
at capacity, meth addicts cycle through them quickly. There just is not
enough money in the budget to put all tweakers in jail. However restricting
cold pill sales to only pharmacists is no silver bullet either. After they
passed stiff restrictions in Oklahoma, they cut down on home-cooked meth
but it's been replaced by imports from Mexico (where 90 percent of the
national supply comes from). It's time to consider comprehensive
legislation that looks at the precursors to meth manufacturing and ways
meth addicts pay for their habit. We must attack the meth business from
several angles simultaneously. Gradualism is a recipe for failure.

Drew Robertson

Director, Security Technology Consortium

New York, NY