EDUCATING AGAINST METH

Educating Missouri's young people on the dangers of methamphetamine may
prove the best plan of attack against manufacturers of the insidious drug.
Sadly, though, education can be a slow process. And so the fight against
meth makers goes on in the law enforcement trenches every day.

Just how serious is the problem? No fewer than 2,860 meth labs were seized
in this state last year and during the first two months of 2004. The numbers
suggest that law enforcement agencies are doing an excellent job hunting
down and putting these basement, garage, backroom chemists out of business.

But there is an ominous way of reading the numbers, too. How large or small
a percentage of the total number of meth labs operating were those 2,860
closed? Our suspicion is that for every one raided by authorities, two or
three remain operating or preparing to start up. That is not meant as an
indictment of the effectiveness of the agencies, but rather evidence of the
profitability and ease of manufacturing meth and the street demand for it.

Obviously, meth is a critical problem for Missouri that isn't going away.
While the battle by law enforcement and the courts against this insidious
concoction continues to rage, Missouri's best hope for success may rest with
educating young people. The message that we hope they will hear and heed is
that meth can kill or ruin their lives.

State quarters

Kansas high school students last week were asked their preferences of
designs for the state's quarters being issued next year. The request
reportedly came as something of a surprise to some schools. But the vote
won't take much time out of a school day and will give the young people an
opportunity to decide which of the four designs sparks their imaginations.

It would be an interesting exercise if high school history, political
science and art classes in every state were asked to come up with their own
quarter designs. Would they attach the same importance to events or symbols
as those, say, 30 years of age or older? Do they see the same bold,
ambitious, pioneering spirit today that many of us did decades ago? What do
they see in the future? Their perceptions are important. After all, the
future belongs to them.