LAW ENFORCERS TRY TO DEAL WITH A PROBLEM BIGGER THAN MOONSHINE

Spend time with a few local sheriffs and the topic of methamphetamine is
sure to come up as a regional concern. Words like "rising" and "staggering"
have been used countless times in the past year by local law enforcement
officials who now deal with the problem on a daily basis. Officials out of
Washington, Carter and Unicoi counties, some of the most hard-hit areas in
East Tennessee, say methamphetamine use and the production of it is
becoming a large and expensive problem for all facets of law enforcement
without an end in sight.

"As of right now, it is probably the fastest-growing problem in our state,"
Washington County Sheriff Ed Graybeal said. "I first came across meth about
2 to 2 1/2 years ago and really didn't understand it at the time. Today,
it's running along the same lines as moonshine. Only thing is, meth use and
manufacturing is very dangerous and highly toxic."

Through the first three months of 2004, Graybeal reported that deputies
already had discovered 14 methamphetamine labs in Washington County, and
with 95 counties in the state, Tennessee is on track to exceed last year's
total of 1,154 labs found. Just do the math. It's a significant leap from
four years ago, when there were only 230 cases found in the state.

Though the number of labs found is daunting, the 500 children who are now
not with their original families due to these arrests is especially sobering.

Graybeal believes the only way this trend will drop off is with the help of
the community working with police and other agencies in order to identify
and inform the proper authorities of suspects who purchase meth-making
paraphernalia. Items listed in Washington County's brochure on
methamphetamine include: cold pills, red-tip matches (phosphorous), paint
thinner, coffee filters, lithium batteries, kitty litter, drain cleaner,
iodine, gas cans, tape and ice chests.

Others interviewed had their own ideas on how to cope with meth and
meth-related cases.

Sheriff John Henson of Carter County, who has already made between 10 and
12 methamphetamine arrests this year, suggested the implementation of
stiffer laws for meth-related cases, thus leading to harsher sentences for
those involved. Henson has seen an incredible increase in cases in Carter
County during the last few months. Only six labs were reported found in 2003.

"Legislation needs to be passed making these meth laws in place now
tougher," Henson said. "Sometimes it takes getting into someone's
pocketbook to get their attention. And right now, that's what it's going to
take. We're spending about 90 percent of our time on this type of drug
trafficking, which doesn't leave much time to address everything else we
should be taking care of."

Recently, a sweep of new legislation by the state of Tennessee has targeted
meth manufacturing.

Methamphetamine has hit especially hard for others in the area. Unicoi
County Sheriff Kent Harris said the drug has forced him to put friends as
well as family members in jail in order to force them to correct their lives.

"It's a very sad problem," Harris said, "but jail is the only place that
will force them into dealing with the problem."

Harris said when he left law enforcement to go into the security business
in 2000, meth cases were few and far between. The day he was elected
sheriff of Unicoi County in 2002, in the first week Harris said he saw
three cases and added that, since then, a week hasn't gone by that his
department hasn't had to deal with some sort of methamphetamine case.

Harris' department deals with meth on all ends, as could be said for most
counties in the area. "We track a lot of the meth users through other
crimes like burglaries and the like," Harris said.

"I hate these drugs; they make me sick," Harris said. "I'd put my mother in
jail if she was doing it.

"It ruins peoples lives, and jail sometimes becomes the only option."