METH WAR HAS MANY FRONTS - LABS ONLY ONE

Gov. Brad Henry and some state drug enforcement officials
are generating an incomplete picture of the success in the fight
against illegal methamphetamine use.

Henry, late last month, sent out a letter to the other 49 state
governors asking them to enact an anti-meth law similar to the one
that went into effect in Oklahoma earlier this year. The law requires
pseudoephedrine, a meth precursor, be sold from behind pharmacy
counters. The law limits the amount of the precursor that illegal
producers are able to obtain.

Henry and state law enforcement have boasted since the law's enactment
that the number of clandestine meth labs has been reduced by almost 50
percent.

While the law is reducing the number of illegal, dangerous labs --
which is praiseworthy -- that is far from "stamping out (the meth)
scourge."

The governor was not able to say that meth was less available because
law officers already have reported that locally produced meth is being
replaced by meth being brought in from Mexico. The governor could not
say crime was down because a Tulsa television news station reported
recently that in one town, break-ins and burglaries are up because
meth is costing users more and they are looking for revenue sources to
continue their habit. The governor did not cite real statistics that
would indeed point to a downturn in meth use -- fewer arrests and
court convictions.

Until fewer people are being arrested for meth use and the demand for
drug rehabilitation services shows a decline, the state has little
reason to rejoice. Those are the numbers that count.

We're thankful the cooking of meth in Oklahoma is being curbed, and
other states should make pseudoephedrine less available.

But illegal labs are only part of the fight in the war on drugs.