METH FIGHT HAS NO ROOM FOR COMPLACENCY

As encouraging as it is to hear about the numerous local residents helping
out in their own different ways to fight the spread of methamphetamine, it's
equally scary.

Scary, because despite all of these efforts, meth continues to penetrate our
community full speed ahead, spreading its devastation without regard for
race, gender or socioeconomic standing. It's becoming increasingly difficult
to find people who don't know someone whose life has been affected by this
drug.

Reporter Justin Willis outlined in a two-part series Sunday and Monday the
effort it takes simply to tread water in this fight.

Residents have been diligent about reporting suspicious activity or strange
odors that could indicate the manufacturing or distribution of
methamphetamine.

Law enforcement officers have spent countless hours tackling the problem --
often draining the budgets of local departments. Last year, the Owensboro
Police Department dismantled 43 meth labs, and the Daviess County Sheriff's
Department has averaged finding almost 60 labs a year since 1998.

Earlier this year, OPD Chief John Kazlauskas said that outside of
Louisville, Owensboro has more officers assigned to combat drug activity
than any other city in western Kentucky.

"And I will tell you this: If I had more officers, we could lock up more
people, because we do have a serious problem here," Kazlauskas said.

Farmers and farm supply businesses are keeping closer tabs on their
anhydrous ammonia tanks, a key ingredient in manufacturing meth.

Detectives spend some nights on surveillance, lying in fields and waiting to
catch potential anhydrous thieves. Their efforts have resulted in more than
70 arrests in the last two-plus years.

Retailers are making it more difficult for meth makers to get their hands on
precursors. Some stores are taking potent decongestant pills off shelves and
putting them behind counters. And some report to investigators the names of
people trying to buy stockpiles of the ingredients used to make the drug.

Prevention and treatment specialists, counselors and law enforcement
officers continue to take every opportunity available to educate the public
on the dangers of this drug, warning of its addictive nature.

And yet here we are in the middle of what can only be described as an
epidemic.

What this means is that there is no room for complacency. Once we accept
that fact that meth is here to stay, just another in the long list of
available drugs, the battle will be lost.

We should all be thankful to those who are not just on the front lines of
this effort, but those who are pitching in any way they know how. But it's
going to take an even greater effort from even more people if
Owensboro-Daviess County is to get a handle on this drug and push it out of
our community.