CHILDREN ARE OFTEN FORGOTTEN VICTIMS OF METH ABUSERS

JACKSON - Narcotics agent Jeff Killion says the scene of methamphetamine
lab busts involving children reminds him of conditions in Third World
countries.

"Lots of dirty diapers. Cockroaches. Food has been laying there out in the
open for days on end. Horrendous odors," he said, adding that the children
have "that far-off look in their eye and bugs crawling on them."

Killion and dozens of other law enforcement officials and Department of
Human Services social workers were in Jackson on Tuesday for a conference
focusing on how to better protect drug endangered children.

Children are the forgotten victims of America's war on drugs, said Sue
Webber-Brown, an investigator in the Butte County, Calif., district
attorney's office who started one of the nation's first drug-endangered
child programs.

She showed the group a film depicting true cases of children who had been
tortured or killed by meth users. Brown said keeping children from being
harmed would require a team effort by social workers, law enforcement
officers, the medical community and educators.

Brown also stressed sharing information among agencies.

Killion acknowledged narcotics agents in the past have been reluctant to
divulge details of an ongoing investigation.

"It's the real world. They shoot real bullets," Killion said. "Somebody
leaks the wrong information, we're going to die going through the door."

He said law enforcement agencies need to let social workers know when a
bust is going to take place so they'll be on hand to remove any children
who are present.

That means additional training for social workers, who may find themselves
on the premises of a potentially explosive site.

The substances used to create methamphetamine - ammonia, drain cleaner,
battery acid and antifreeze - and the production process are highly volatile.

Wanda Gillom, deputy director of DHS' family and children division, said
she's concerned about the growing number of meth cases involving children,
thereby affecting social workers.

In 2002, 64 children were associated with methamphetamine lab
investigations in Mississippi, according to MBN statistics.

"We try to attend conferences that talk about this, but this is the biggest
training that we can ever have," Gillom said of this week's conference. "I
have a lot of our social workers here today."

Killion has begun training some of the state's more than 300 social
workers. They're schooled on what signs to look for if a person is under
the influence of meth or what precursors to the drug might be present.

The next big push will be for tougher laws, he said.

"If you sell dope around a child, there's no penalty enhancement right
now," Killion said. "We have to work with the Legislature on all sorts of
deals to try to strengthen our laws."