STOP THE SPREAD OF WICKED METH

Some start using illegal drugs purely for kicks. And that is true for many
who make the reckless choice of methamphetamine, or meth, as their personal
drug of abuse.

But meth isn't always taken to get high.

Asa Hutchinson, director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, explained
to a gathering in Naperville that meth is becoming increasingly popular
among soccer moms. The stimulant helps them keep pace with busy schedules,
or lose weight.

Others use meth to train longer to improve their athletic skills.

No matter the motivation, there are incredibly horrible consequences to
using this drug. In return for the boost in energy and euphoria it
produces, this highly addictive drug wreaks havoc on the brain, produces
paranoia and hallucinations and, in many cases, violent behavior and, in
other cases, death. Users can go days without sleep, eventually crashing,
then awakening to start the roller coaster ride again.

Methamphetamine poses grave risks to the drug-free public as well.

It is harmful to make, as well as take, methamphetamine. Chemicals used to
make meth are highly volatile. Meth labs have blown up, killing and
injuring the meth cookers, as well as threatening neighbors to those
apartments and suburban homes that have been converted into clandestine
meth labs.

The waste generated by meth preparation is highly toxic - exposure to it
can cause death - and it is costly to clean up. The crude meth labs are
mini Superfund sites.

Fortunately, meth abuse has not reached crisis proportions here as it has
in many other parts of the country, particularly rural areas. There are
users out there, though, and a few labs have been shut down in the suburbs.

But the potential for this alarming trend of escalating meth abuse to make
its way into the suburbs is real. The number of meth lab seizures in
Illinois has grown from one in 1996 to 666 in 2001, according to the DEA.

Hutchinson's warnings about meth should he heeded.

Drug abuse prevention educators will have to work hard to overcome apathy
in youngsters who have been conditioned to believe every illegal drug will
hurt or kill them, and convince youngsters that meth can, indeed, turn them
into sick raging animals and take their lives. Keep in mind, too, that meth
isn't just found in the drug culture. Those who abuse it to lose weight or
gain energy also have to know of the risks they are taking.

Law enforcement has to be vigilant in containing the growth of meth dealing
and production in the suburbs.

Meth can't be allowed to spread its misery any further here.