DEA CHIEF EXAMINES WAYS TO HELP KANSAS FIGHT METHAMPHETAMINE

As head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Asa Hutchinson hears
reports on the agency's struggle to fight drug traffickers from Mexico, the
Caribbean and elsewhere.

Today, he'll hear how the battle to fight methamphetamine manufacturers in
rural and urban Kansas has crippled budgets and overwhelmed authorities.

The national attention comes shortly after the Kansas Bureau of
Investigation reported that state authorities seized 846 labs in 2001, a 20
percent increase over 2000, when 702 labs were busted, said KBI spokesman
Kyle Smith.

Hutchinson and U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, will tour a
rehabilitation center and conduct a town hall meeting in Hutchinson, Kan.
They will hear from county sheriffs, emergency room doctors, social workers
and others.

Kansas officials hope the DEA chief's visit means more federal grants to
fight meth.

State figures show that meth cost Kansas at least $21 million in 2000,
including prosecuting, incarcerating and treating users. About $2 million
of that total was used to clean toxic and volatile chemicals from meth lab
sites.

However, the DEA has already been stretched thin. After Sept. 11,
government resources and FBI agents were diverted from the war on drugs to
the war on terrorism.

The attacks have also dried up local law enforcement budgets as national
security was tightened, Smith said.

"The strained resources get strained even thinner," he said.

For years, meth has been the top focus for the KBI. Increased penalties
have helped to slow the drug's popularity among Kansans, but the state
still ranks among the top meth producers.

KBI reports show that Shawnee County had the most meth lab busts last year,
with 90. Cowley County followed with 67 and Saline County had 62.

In the Kansas City area, nine labs were seized in Leavenworth County and
seven each in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, according to the KBI. Six
were seized in Douglas County, three in Miami County.

The figures may not include all lab seizures, officials said. In some
cases, the DEA or local agencies haven't reported seizures to the KBI.

Missouri authorities are experiencing the same dilemma. The state seized
more than 2,000 labs in 2001, up from 908 the previous year, according to
the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Later this week, Smith said, the KBI will again ask Kansas legislators to
tighten laws that apply to meth manufacturing. The top priority is to limit
to three the amount of ephedrine- and pseudoephedrine-based products that
consumers can purchase at once. The drugs, commonly found in cold and
allergy medicine, serve as the main element for meth, he said.

"We need to control access to the basic ingredient," Smith said.

Authorities hope tighter laws and more money will help their efforts, but
for the foreseeable future they expect the number of busts to increase. As
they add agents and increase public education, they receive even more tips
about laboratories.