METH LABS BECOMING SCOURGE OF NATION, VALLEY

Morgan County drug agents apparently are doing a great job this year
judging from the number of methamphetamine laboratories that they have
discovered and destroyed.

Three or four years ago, the agents centered their worry on the spread
of crack cocaine, a form of cocaine that is so highly addictive that a
first-time user can become hooked.

Now, and perhaps rightly so, their focus has shifted to the home-spun
laboratories that produce methamphetamine from items that can be
purchased almost anywhere. It doesn't have to be harvested and refined
in South or Central America or another nation and then smuggled into
the United States. It can be "cooked" almost anywhere, including motel
rooms.

Although 50 of these illicit labs have been found this year, we should
be concerned about a comment made by Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett.

"People in the community were tickled to death to see us coming," Mr.
Bartlett said of a bust in Hulaco. "The last two labs we've busted,
neighbors in the community were honking their horns and giving us the
thumbs-up as officers go by."

The community outpouring when a lab is busted is wonderful, but
apparently many of these citizens knew what was going on before
officers arrived. Otherwise, there would be no reason to honk a horn
or give a thumbs-up sign.

Every citizen should do his or her part to help fight this and other
drug menaces in our communities. Even an anonymous tip to police could
help rid our communities of those who would endanger the lives not
only of those who use their product, but nearby neighbors who might be
injured if one of these labs explodes, as they are prone to do.

Being a tipster isn't bad. It's something to which Mr. Bartlett and
other police officers would give a thumbs-up.