METH PLANS COMPETE

Elections are good for more important reasons than hot rhetoric and
entertaining debates. They also can produce a battle of ideas. Early
last week, the Kerry-Edwards ticket unveiled its plan for combating
methamphetamine. By the end of the week, Sen. Jim Talent and Rep. Roy
Blunt, both Missouri Republicans, countered with a methamphetamine
strategy from the other side of the political aisle.

That is as it should be. Indeed, the two proposals reflect the
different philosophies of the respective parties.

Democrats want to restrict the sale of cold medicines with
pseudoephedrine, which are used to make meth, according to the
Associated Press. They also would give farmers federal money to better
secure ammonia tanks, another key ingredient in the meth recipe.

Republicans want to spend $47 million in the first year to better
train police and prosecutors while shifting the prosecution of meth
lab operators and traffickers into the federal court system, the AP
reported. The Missouri lawmakers also plan to include a treatment
component to their bill - as soon as they can find a program that works.

Meth is a big enough problem that it will require more than one
strategy to find a cure. Missouri shut down 2,600 meth labs last year,
a record rate for the nation.

Finding a solution for this problem will also take bipartisan
support.

"Methamphetamine has not been a partisan thing and should not be a
partisan thing," Mr. Talent told the AP. "This is something that
threatens everybody."

We appreciate both parties' sudden interest in battling what is an old
problem for Northwest Missouri. We also expect that both that energy
and bipartisan spirit will survive the Nov. 2 general election.