EDWARDS TAKES ON ISSUE OF METH LABS

Democrats Will Add Police Funding, Aid Drug Lab Eradication,
Candidate Says

Calling methamphetamine a "cancer on rural America," Sen. John Edwards
said Monday that a plan by the Kerry campaign would put more money
into helping treat users and battling the homemade drug epidemic.

"Thousands of lives are being ruined by this drug," Edwards, the
Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in a conference call with
reporters.

Edwards, who was campaigning in Iowa on Monday, accused President Bush
of letting up on the drug problem since he took office in 2000. He
said Bush's cuts to police programs include a 63 percent reduction in
efforts to crack down on methamphetamine "hot spots."

"John and I believe we have a moral responsibility to do something
about this," Edwards said of his presidential running mate.

Mary Diamond, a West Virginia campaign spokeswoman for Bush, said the
president is aware of the problem.

"President Bush acknowledges this is certainly an issue that is
affecting states that have a lot of rural areas like West Virginia,"
she said. "He has illustrated how much he's done: He's increased law
enforcement actions [against methamphetamine] by 79 percent."

Democrats agree there have been more actions against meth labs, but
say that 's because there are more meth labs to be found.

A significant part of the Democratic candidates' plan is a $20 million
annual grant program to go toward fighting the methamphetamine
problem. The money would be part of the $30 million the administration
would recover from cutting government spending, Edwards said.

The Democrats propose helping local authorities with the meth problem
by giving them access to federal grants.

"State and local cops are working very hard on this," Edwards said.
"But the problem is, they are doing this without the federal
government."

Police in West Virginia have seized more than 200 methamphetamine
laboratories this year. Local political candidates also have used this
year' s campaigns to tout their own ideas on dealing with the problem.

The Kerry-Edwards proposal would complement plans by West Virginia and
other states to limit the sales of pseudoephedrine, Edwards said. He
said retailers should be approached directly about controlling the
amount of over-the-counter cold and sinus medicine containing
pseudoephedrine. Some West Virginia pharmacies already monitor the
amount people buy. In Oklahoma, lawmakers have installed a new law
setting a limit on how much a customer can buy.

Edwards said the Okalahoma law is a thoughtful approach.

He said their plan for federal regulations would include monitoring
bulk sales by allowing two standard packs of pseudoephedrine-containing
drugs per day. They also would support creating a meth-resistant
ammonia that could be bought easily and inexpensively by farmers,
Edwards said.

The North Carolina senator also proposed treatment for methamphetamine
users and increasing federal involvement in cleaning up
methamphetamine labs.

"We want to make sure that local communities are not having to bear
this burden alone," he said.