LAWMEN WELCOME METH CAMPAIGN

Task Force To Target Labs Spread In State

Local law enforcement officials on Wednesday hailed the creation of a
statewide task force against methamphetamine by Gov. Phil Bredesen.

The highly addictive drug is made in illegal labs that have mushroomed
across the state, but are a particular problem in Middle and East
Tennessee. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that
Tennessee accounts for 75 percent of meth lab seizures in the Southeast.
Bredesen issued an executive order Wednesday setting up the group. He wants
recommendations by Sept. 1 on what to do about meth.

"Some say we have lost a generation to it. I don't intend to lose another,"
Bredesen said.

Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell said Wednesday the governor has taken a
step in the right direction.

"It's a very acute problem, and it's growing more acute," Luttrell said.
Investigators in the Memphis area have found meth labs in motel rooms,
abandoned buildings and trailers, said Memphis police Sgt. James Taylor of
the Vice/Narcotics unit.

In recent months, at least two labs have blown up, one in an East Memphis
motel, endangering the lives of dozens nearby, he said.

In 2002, 84 meth labs were destroyed in Shelby County; and 64 in Fayette,
Tipton, Dyer and Lauderdale counties.

In 2003, 48 labs were broken up in Shelby County, and 161 in the other four
counties - a sign, Taylor said, that pressure in Shelby County is pushing
makers out.

The ingredients for making methamphetamine are fairly easy to obtain, but
many are highly toxic and contaminate the area used for a lab.

In one recent case in Memphis, police found massive amounts of toxic
material, methamphetamine and other drugs inside a home in the 4000 block
of Tutwiler - a tenth of a mile from Grahamwood Elementary School. Doyce
Elliott Hunt was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to
conspiracy in the case. Prosecutors cited the danger his lab posed to
children in the area as a reason for the stiff sentence.