OFFICIALS: METH PROBLEM MUST BE SOLVED LOCALLY

LEXINGTON (AP) - Kentucky's methamphetamine problem will continue to grow
unless the battle is intensified at the local level, state and federal
officials said Wednesday.

``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."

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, methamphetamine has
become the No. 1 drug problem facing rural America, rivaling club drugs
like ecstasy and cocaine in the nation's urban centers and crack cocaine in
the northeast.

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.