LAWMAKERS TAKE A PASS ON METH ISSUE

There's an old saying that goes something like this: Present anyone in
government with a problem in need of a solution and he will form a committee
to study it.

Case in point: Tennessee and the growing scourge of methamphetamine.

The potent stimulant - sometimes called ice, crank, speed or poor man's
cocaine - is cooked in secret laboratories in homes, trailers, garages and
vehicles across much of the state. Nowhere is the problem worse than in
rural counties, including some in our region.

It is endangering children present when a witches' brew of toxic chemicals
and cold medicine are heated to make the drug. It is threatening the lives
of law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers who
stumble across illegal labs in their daily duties. And, it is costing all of
us, as we shoulder the burden of cleaning up illegal labs and seeking out
and prosecuting those involved in this destructive trade.

So what did Tennessee lawmakers and Gov. Phil Bredesen do about this monster
of a problem? They punted. They formed a task force to study it for another
year.

Oh sure, they said all the right words. They vowed to get tough and drive
this invader from our land, to protect the children and to give lawmen the
tools they need for this battle.

Bredesen even evoked a phrase oft-associated with the war on terror, calling
methamphetamine "a clear and present danger" for the state.

But talk is cheap, and what police, prosecutors and social workers really
wanted was some action. They wanted to see the legislature stiffen penalties
for those caught making the drug. They wanted a program that would educate
the public about its dangers. They wanted a law making it harder to buy the
cold tablets that are one of the main ingredients.

Instead, they got a task force that will study the matter for a year before
making a report to the legislature.

That means lawmakers, many of whom are up for reelection in the fall, get
another year before they have to decide whether to pay for the measures it
will take to wage this battle.

Make no mistake about it, this battle is about costs. It will undeniably
cost the state more money to punish meth-makers the same way it does crack
cocaine dealers. But some things are more important than cost, and to
continue to dispense lighter sentences for meth crimes than for cocaine
crimes is to diminish the drug's addictive and deadly nature.

The same week that Tennessee leaders took a pass on the meth question, two
secret laboratories were found in our area - one in a quiet Bristol Virginia
neighborhood, the other a rural Washington County, Va., home.

This is a growing and gathering storm facing our region - both in Tennessee
and Virginia - and it must be addressed. To defer action for a year is not
acceptable.