READY TO REACT

Sampson's Strength Is Vigilance

Drugs, some say, are urban problems. That is a perilous attitude, and
wrong. It's also one that Sampson County law enforcement was commended for
not having adopted.

The drug that users rationalize as enabling their lives - staying thin or
staying up late to work two jobs - swept from the West and landed in North
Carolina. Kitchen-sink methamphetamine makers easily blow up themselves and
their children - sometimes their neighbors if the homes are close enough.
Deputies can easily be harmed if they don't know what they are doing when
investigating labs and removing evidence. When the chemicals are dumped,
they seep into the water table. Socially and environmentally, meth labs are
a menace.

More meth labs have been found in Harnett and Sampson than any other
counties in the Cape Fear region. Maybe those counties are being targeted
by manufacturers who move there not to attract notice; maybe the lack of
jobs or the lure of money - greed - entices rural residents into the business.

Or maybe it's just that the labs are being spotted more easily in those
counties.

Duane Deaver, an agent with the State Bureau of Investigation, thinks that
might be the case. He told the Sampson County Board of Commissioners that
the sheriff and deputies are doing a good job investigating the labs. He
commended the county's planning. Sampson set up a task force.

On a national level, the drug epidemic seems unstoppable. But on a local
level, that's another matter. Counties and cities have made progress in
promoting public safety and discouraging drug trades in their communities.

That might chase the problem somewhere else. But local law enforcement and
leaders can only be responsible for their own communities.

When the methamphetamine trade spread its way, Sampson County officials
didn't hide or pretend that a large problem couldn't hit small towns. They
were ready to react, and did. Good job.

Other North Carolina counties should take note of Sampson's work.