METHAMPHETAMINE: A SCOURGE ON THE AREA

The back-breaking news is that the current debilitating scourge known as
methamphetamine has invaded East Tennessee like fire ants with the
immediate danger to human lives, even young lives, not agriculture or animals.

The silver lining in that cloud is the progress made against the meth
problem that exploded in rural counties of Middle and East Tennessee during
the last decade. That progress offers hope that a combination of tough law
enforcement and public awareness can stem this awful tide.

This week, a series of stories in the News Sentinel and broadcast reports
on WBIR-TV, Channel 10, examined the growing methamphetamine problem in
East Tennessee and the issues raised by the increased use and production of
the drug. The reports brought to light a number of features about meth, and
citizens should be aware of them.

In fiscal 1999, for example, there were 81 meth lab seizures in East
Tennessee, including 18 in Grundy County and 27 in Marion County. Statewide
there were 128 seizures. In fiscal 2003, by contrast, there were 493 meth
lab seizures in East Tennessee and 752 statewide.

Saying methamphetamine is a dangerous drug vastly understates the case. It
is manufactured largely in fly-by-night situations, the contents carried in
small suitcases, duffel bags or backpacks. The rural parts of the region,
with twisting roads through mountainous areas, serve as a shield against
law enforcement, too often understaffed to take on massive searches for the
dreaded meth labs.

The drug is made by mixing over-the-counter cold medicines containing
pseudoephedrine with other potentially dangerous chemicals. Authorities say
the illegal labs are set up for the most part by people who manufacture the
drug for themselves. There apparently is no large-scale manufacturing for
selling the drug on the street.

The need to make the drug on the run by those who are unfamiliar with its
deadly potential is lethal enough. But there are several clear
illustrations of the danger the meth labs present.

One of those occurred last year when two men were killed and another
critically injured when their meth lab exploded in a trailer.

In another incident, a Clinton man sustained serious burns in March during
a meth-related flash fire.

Another is the cost of cleaning up a meth lab site. The average cleanup
bill for a lab is estimated at $3,300, which is paid for by the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration.

A lab site is a hazardous area, special equipment is required to
investigate and clean a site, and the cleanup takes time and personnel from
other duties.

There also is a heart-wrenching toll on children, with approximately 500
pulled from homes where methamphetamine was manufactured between January
2002 and July of this year.

A new provision in state law allows authorities to remove children from
homes where meth production is discovered because such activity is defined
as child abuse, which it most certainly is.

Then, there is the danger to the user - irreversible damage to blood
vessels in the brain, respiratory problems, extreme anorexia and
possibility of cardiovascular collapse and death.

On the positive side, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies
have begun to get a handle on the problem. The number of labs broken up has
increased, an indication of the scope of the problem on the one hand but
also a statement about the extent to which authorities are working to deal
with it.

A combination of strict law enforcement, public awareness and training
programs have helped blunt the pervasiveness of the meth scourge. More of
these three elements are needed if it is to brought under control.

The leadership in the fight against methamphetamine is the South/East
Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, a joint effort involving state, local
and federal agencies working together. The group has two goals: do
everything possible to stop the spread of the drug and educate the public
about its dangers.

Like other thorny challenges to law enforcement in East Tennessee, the
methamphetamine scourge will diminish if not disappear in time.

The horrors identified in the reports from our stories and the broadcasts
of WBIR-TV should compel law enforcement agencies to make that time as soon
as possible.