RESOLUTION GOES TO COUNCIL

In Monday's regular meeting of Winchester's Public Safety Committee, the
members approved a resolution to address one of our community's biggest
concerns, the methamphetamine problem.

This is the resolution that Winchester Mayor Richard Stewart asked City
Administrator Beth Rhoton to begin drafting at the last city council
meeting and if approved, is to be sent to the state legislature asking them
for a Zero Tolerance law against drugs. With Governor Bredesen and the
Tennessee State Legislature as the audience, this resolution states that
the City of Winchester is in support of the Senate Bill #2776/House Bill
2812, called the "Tennessee Comprehensive Methamphetamine Prevention,
Treatment, and Control Act of 2004" and considers it "necessary legislation
for the welfare of our citizens and the great state of Tennessee." The
resolution declares that the illegal drug methamphetamine has "become a
scourge on our community" and that "persons engaged in clandestine
methamphetamine manufacture and use routinely endanger innocent children,
their neighbors, and innocent citizens." An estimated $700,000 has been
spent by Franklin County's law enforcement to clean up these meth labs, and
an environmental impact estimate of over a million dollars in property
damage just in Franklin County are also included in the resolution. The
resolution ends by saying, "the City of Winchester, understanding that
Franklin County has recently been named the number one producer of
methamphetamine in Tennessee, recognizes and can attest to how quickly this
drug can take over a community and the imminent danger this drug will have
on the entire State of Tennessee." The resolution will go before Winchester
City Council with Public Safety's recommendation at the next council
meeting set for Tuesday, Feb. 10th. In another effort to combat the meth
problem, meth watch posters are now available to be posted in stores and
other places of business from Sgt. Danny Mantooth at the Winchester Police
Dept. He can be contacted at 967-3840. The posters are designed to motivate
employees and customers to watch for people buying excessive amounts of the
products used to create meth. They also list the ingredients to watch for,
such as cold pills containing ephedrine, drain cleaner, matches, acetone,
muriatic acid and others along with showing the products in full color. The
Franklin County Crimestoppers Hotline (962-INFO) has been added to the
posters to inform the public of where to call if they suspect someone of
buying any of the above products with the intent of creating meth. Cindy
Kilpatrick with the Franklin County Department of Children Services will be
giving a presentation on meth to area youth at the Estill Springs Church of
the Nazarene on Wednesday, Feb. 11th at 6:30 p.m. The presentation is open
to the public and is designed to show youth the extreme dangers involved
with meth.