OKLAHOMA FUNDS NEW FOCUS ON METHAMPHETAMINE WAR

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Police agencies in six Oklahoma counties will get an
infusion of cash to fight drug traffickers, particularly people operating
methamphetamine labs.

The six counties -- Oklahoma, Tulsa, Cleveland, Comanche, Muskogee and
Sequoyah -- will get an extra $250,000 a year because they have been
identified as areas where drugs are being produced that are sent to other
areas of the country, Rep. Ernest Istook said in a news conference Friday.

Bob Survec of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Oklahoma City said
Oklahoma currently ranks in the top four among the 50 states in the seizure
of methamphetamine labs.

A state study of 1999 figures shows total meth use in the state is 42
percent higher than the national average and 80 percent higher among
Oklahomans ages 26 to 34.

All six of the counties, designated as High Intensity Drug-Trafficking
Areas, are in metropolitan areas, except Sequoyah County, which is located
in eastern Oklahoma on the Arkansas border.

"Meth labs and meth are major problems in Oklahoma, and it's expensive to
combat them," Istook said. "This HIDTA designation gives Oklahoma
significant new help to fight meth and other illegal drugs."

Istook is chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees more than $2
billion in federal anti-drug spending.

The HIDTA designation authorizes Oklahoma law enforcement to receive
federal reimbursement for such expenses as overtime for drug
investigations, leasing costs for vehicles, travel and payments for
evidence and information.

The designation is also intended to increase coordination between local,
state and federal law enforcement agencies.