ALL AGENCIES ASKED TO ATTACK METH PROBLEM

LEXINGTON -- Kentucky's methamphetamine problem will continue to grow
unless the battle is intensified at the local level, state and federal
officials said earlier this week.

"All of the federal resources we receive are a huge help in our continuing
fight against methamphetamine," said Steve Pence, U.S. attorney for the
Western District of Kentucky.

"But we also have to have state law enforcement and local sheriff's offices
and police departments and even the residents in high-intensity communities
participate at increasing levels if we really want to get a handle on this."

In the little more than a year since he took office, Hardin County
Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Shaw has seen meth become the county's
fastest-growing drug. But he said court officials and law enforcement are
doing what they can to fight use and production.

"Short of additional state funding for more officers to help fight meth,
everything in this area that can be done is being done," he said.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, methamphetamine has
become the No. 1 drug problem facing rural America, rivaling club drugs
such as ecstasy and cocaine in the nation's urban centers and crack cocaine
in the northeast. The drug's popularity has outpaced other substances in
Hardin County as well.

Some call meth the poor man's cocaine because it is a highly addictive
stimulant that produces a euphoria similar to cocaine, but lasts longer -
six to eight hours, compared with 20 minutes to an hour for cocaine. Since
it can be produced simply using a number of easily obtained ingredients,
including cold medicine and lithium batteries, illegal production
laboratories frequently pop up in homes as well as motels, vans and
backyard sheds.

Production and use of methamphetamine has skyrocketed during the past
several years throughout the Midwest, including Kentucky. Last year, 160
clandestine meth labs were raided by law enforcement agencies in Kentucky,
more than double the number in 2000.

There are about 50 people in the Hardin County court system accused of
using, manufacturing or distributing the drug.

DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, in Lexington to speak at a two-day summit
on fighting methamphetamine and OxyContin abuse, said he plans to visit
cities in 32 states to inform communities of the dangers inherent in meth
production and use. The summit featured legislators, law enforcement
officials, social services and treatment specialists all talking about ways
to fight off meth.

"We are trying to hatch out a way to fight this problem other than keeping
the people in jail for 10 years," said Gerald Wilson, a Kentucky State
Police narcotics officer attending the conference.

Wilson said he is confident Hardin County is placing emphasis on
rehabilitation instead of jail time. But he said there is no way to
completely wipe out meth.

"We have the ability to level it out and deter it," he said.

A new response trailer, containing equipment to clean up meth labs, is one
way KSP has helped local Hardin County agencies in search of meth labs.

Hutchinson said the DEA has trained more than 130 Kentucky police officers
at a cost of more than $2,000 per officer and has provided more than
$250,000 in equipment to state law enforcement agencies to aid the fight
against methamphetamine.

"But more has to be done because there is a double hit in Kentucky," he
said. "In addition to the lab problem here, a lot of methamphetamine comes
across the United States from California and makes its way through and into
Kentucky."