POLK STILL SEEN AS METH 'HOT SPOT'

Fewer Busts of Labs Does Not Mean That the County Has Shed its
Reputation.

BARTOW - The dwindling number of methamphetamine lab busts in Polk
County may suggest the county has shed its reputation of being the
Meth Capital of Florida.

It's a feel-good thought, but drug treatment counselor Libbie Combee
said it's not reality.

Combee, head of Polk County Mothers Against Methamphetamine Abuse,
knows the highly addictive drug is easily available, whether it's made
in Polk County or not.

Methamphetamine is being imported to Polk County from Mexico, Texas
and as near as Atlanta, Combee said.

Polk County is still considered a meth "hot spot," said Bill Janes,
director of the Florida Office of Drug Control in Tallahassee.

"Less labs don't thrill me," Combee said. "The labs are not the
priority, the addiction is."

Still, Combee applauds law enforcement for doing its part in the war
on meth.

Years ago the county was peppered with labs, but in recent years that
hasn't been the case.

In 2002, 17 methamphetamine labs were busted and 13 were shut down the
following year. In 2004 and 2005, six labs were busted.

But last year, no labs were found, and only one makeshift lab, found
in a car May 23, has been shut down so far this year, said David
Waller, a special investigator with the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement.

FDLE routinely works with the Polk County Sheriff's Office in drug
busts.

A federal law, enacted July 1, 2005, made it hard for meth makers to
get the key ingredient pseudoephedrine, which isfound in common cold
medicines like Sudafed, often used to make methamphetamine.

The law prohibits drug stores from selling more than three packages of
cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine at a time.

A state law also requires drug stores to keep behind the counters
medicines in which pseudoephedrine is the sole ingredient.

Methamphetamine makers used to be able to buy cough medicine in bulk,
but the law has stopped that, Polk County sheriff's Chief W.J. Martin
said.

Martin, who oversees the agency's criminal investigations bureau, said
the law is the main reason many meth labs are gone.

Six labs were busted in Hillsborough County this year and two and
three labs were shut down this year in Orange and Pasco counties
respectively.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency shut down 23 labs this year in
Brevard County, which is on Florida's east coast and has a population
comparable to Polk's.

Reducing the number of labs in the county should be part of a
"three-legged" approach, including rehabilitation and prevention
efforts, to put a dent in methamphetamine use in Polk County, said
Combee, head of Polk's MAMA, a Christian-based methamphetamine
rehabilitation group.

But more money has gone toward enforcement and little is spent on
rehabilitation and prevention methods, Combee said.

Without proper rehabilitation, the cycle of methamphetamine use will
continue, she said.

"We have no place to send people who want to get clean," Combee said.
"There's a 98 percent addiction rate and 92 percent relapse rate."

Belinda Jewell, a former methamphetamine addict turned counselor for
Polk MAMA, said it takes at least 18 months for addicts to get clean.

Most rehabilitation groups, because of budget constraints, can only
hold six-to nine-month rehabilitation programs.

"My mother had to teach me how to set my clock, to bathe on a daily
basis. I had to learn basic life skills," Jewell said of overcoming
her addiction. "I had to come from an illusion world to the real world."

Combee said meth affects everyone "from the poorest to the
richest."

Meanwhile, ice, a more potent form of methamphetamine, has been mixed
with Strawberry Nestle Quick to target teenagers as young as 14,
Combee said.

She said methamphetamine use, especially among teenagers, should be
targeted.

"I'm amazed that there's not a tremendous urgency," Combee said. "The
community needs to step forward."

Polk County MAMA runs 12 support groups at the Polk County Jail and in
cities across the county, Combee said.

More than 200 former meth addicts have graduated from the program,
Combee said.

The groups started a Youth Leadership Council this year at Lake Region
High School that has written scripts for public service announcements
that speak against meth use, Combee said.

The group plans to start a recovery house for methamphetamine addicts
and a new court-ordered methamphetamine class, Combee said.

But the groups say they need monetary support.

Florida drug czar Janes said help is on the way.

The Florida Office of Drug Control is coming up with a "regional
strategy" and will work with the city of Atlanta to stop the flow of
meth into the state, Janes said.

Janes said his office came up with a strategy in 2003 to combat
methamphetamine in the state by taking on meth labs, but in the past
year the focus has been changed to prevention and treatment.

"It (the strategy) talks about protecting youth and reducing the
supply and the demand," Janes said.

He said the state has also applied for a federal grant to apply Matrix
Methamphetamine Treatment, a guide to the best practices in beating
methamphetamine abuse.

The model calls for a yearlong outpatient rehabilitation program along
with other treatments for methamphetamine addicts.

Although Janes is optimistic new programs will help curb
methamphetamine abuse in the state and Polk County, he remains wary.

"The jury's still out on whether we'll stop the meth in Polk County,"
he said.