METH BATTLE WAGED ON MANY FRONTS

The fight against methamphetamine proliferation in Daviess County spans
from covert police operations in fields to educational efforts in seminars
and evolving laws geared to target the worst offenders.

The meth battle has multiple fronts which are intended to educate the
public about the dangers of meth while working to eradicate labs, catch
meth makers and deliver strict prison sentences for their crimes.

"We're convinced that methamphetamine is not a law enforcement problem,
it's a community problem," Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain said. "I think
it's important for the community to realize the lengths we go to ... that
the sheriff's department is aggressively pursuing this."

The sheriff's department uses "aggressive surveillance" techniques that
send investigators to stake out anhydrous ammonia tanks in addition to
suspected meth lab sites and trafficking areas, Cain said.

Some of the surveillance involves investigators spending several hours near
an anhydrous ammonia tank and arresting meth manufacturers when they
approach the tank in the dark to steal the crucial ingredient, Cain said.

The tools of battle have increased for prosecutors since state legislators
voted to strengthen laws in 1998 to raise the penalty of possessing
methamphetamine to a felony, Daviess Commonwealth's Attorney Jay Wethington
said.

Since then, a cooperative effort between police, prosecutors and lawmakers
established a variety of felony crimes related to meth such as having
anhydrous ammonia in an unapproved container and making it illegal to
possess meth precursors with the intent to manufacture the drug.

"The new laws have been very, very effective for us in the war on
methamphetamine," Wethington said. "The law enforcement community and the
Commonwealth's Attorney's Association have worked really well in the past
in getting our laws changed ... and it's working. The legislature has been
very receptive to give us the tools of law, and we're using them very well."

Prosecutors continue to fight for tougher laws and enhanced penalties for
the worst meth offenders, Wethington said.

Before the new laws came into effect, police could catch a meth maker
trying to steal anhydrous ammonia, but the charge would be a misdemeanor
theft or criminal mischief violation, Wethington said. Now that offense is
a felony.

The laws also provide police and prosecutors with discretion, he said. A
law-abiding farmer may possess anhydrous ammonia, filters, tubes, cold
medicine tablets and other materials commonly associated with meth making
but would not be arrested or prosecuted if he did not intend to manufacture
meth, Wethington said.

The sheriff's department frequently offers lectures for health care, school
or church groups interested in learning more about meth, Cain said. The
lectures have increased public knowledge of the drug and have evolved into
additional tips of suspected labs, Cain said.

The lectures explain how to spot a lab, the tell-tale smell and some of the
tools used in the manufacturing process, he said. The sheriff's department
has a strong working relationship with local businesses who report people
purchasing quantities of ingredients, he said.

"We've been tremendously successful in eliciting and garnering the support
from the community in battling this problem," Cain said.

Before 1995 most of the isolated methamphetamine cases in Kentucky involved
drugs made in California or Arizona, said Assistant Daviess Commonwealth's
Attorney Ken Nall, who specializes in narcotic prosecution.

In 1995, a resident from the Midwest moved to McLean County and was
arrested in Daviess County, Nall said. When police questioned the man he
admitted knowing how to manufacture methamphetamine and taught about a
dozen people in the area before he was apprehended, Nall said. Since then,
Daviess County authorities have fought an uphill battle with proliferation,
he said.

Establishing meth crimes as felonies has enabled prosecutors to seek
harsher penalties, but the catch is that a convicted criminal may receive a
10- to 20-year sentence for manufacturing meth and may serve only 20
percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole, Nall said.

Trafficking meth may bring between five to 10 years, and possession, which
includes residue to a large amount, could bring between one to five years,
Nall said.

"The parole board is more apt to parole these people because there is not
an active victim, per se, and it's a nonviolent offense," Nall said. "The
idea that drugs are a victimless crime just blows all over me. Explain that
to the police officer that had to inhale a bunch of ether or got chemical
burns."

The perpetrators of other crimes from forgery, theft and burglary have been
proven to be connected with a drug habit, Nall said.

Depending on additional factors such as the size and sophistication of the
lab.prosecutors may work in conjunction with the U.S. attorney's office to
prosecute certain criminals. The federal system does not offer parole as an
option, Nall said.

Out of every 10 drug crimes that Nall presents to a grand jury, at least
six or seven of them are meth related, Nall said. About two of every 10 are
related to crack cocaine, and the remainder are felony marijuana crimes, he
said.

Both Wethington and Nall said they advocate additional laws that would give
prosecutors and judges more leverage in deciding the severity of a penalty.

Nall praised Kentucky's proactive stance to upgrade meth penalties to
felonies but said additional tools are needed.

State law does not discriminate between the quantity of drugs except for
marijuana, Nall said. A person may be charged with the same meth
trafficking charge whether he or she possess a pound or a ton, he said.

A new wish list among prosecutors includes enhanced penalties for people
accused of making meth in a multifamily building such as a motel, which is
a very common occurrence, Wethington said. Often meth and the harmful
chemicals are made in the presence of small children, who are exposed to
the chemical fumes, he said.

An enhanced penalty would require certain criminals to serve 85 percent of
their sentence before being considered for parole, he said.