AGENCIES GEARING UP FOR INCREASED FIGHT AGAINST METH

Prosecutors are likely to face a juggling act in the upcoming year as they
prepare for an unprecedented fight against methamphetamine abuse while
facing budget cuts within their own departments.

Meanwhile, police are appealing to state legislators for tougher penalties
and new laws regarding meth production and possession of the ingredients.
Law enforcement agencies will be using growing federal funds to help foot
the bill during costly meth lab cleanups.

Since 1998, when the first meth lab was discovered in Daviess County, law
enforcement has recorded more than 200 labs that have been dismantled,
resulting in an increasing number of arrests and prosecutions.

Methamphetamine is being pegged as the culprit during the busiest year on
record for the Daviess commonwealth's attorney's office, which indicted 525
people in the past 12 months, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Van
Meter said.

The indictments include people who steal anhydrous ammonia fertilizer from
farm supply stores; people arrested for cooking meth in their homes, which
are frequently occupied with children; or driving through town with a
mobile meth lab in the vehicle.

Most of the ingredients, with the exception of anhydrous, are available
over the counter. Directions about how to make the highly addictive
stimulant that affects the central nervous system are available on the
Internet.

Increased awareness by the public and large federal grants for law
enforcement have resulted in an increasing number of arrests in connection
with the drug, but prosecutors who operate along with the tide of state
budgets are not finding additional help for the increasing caseloads.

It was a goal of Daviess Commonwealth's Attorney Jay Wethington to attend
the state budget meetings in Frankfort and raise awareness of the need for
additional prosecutors, but when the news arrived about the state budget
and its expected shortcomings, Wethington said he learned additional staff
was not a possibility. A hiring freeze is in effect throughout Kentucky for
state and county prosecutors' offices.

"Because of the budget crunch, we're looking at pay cuts right now,"
Wethington said. "We want to get drugs out of the community. If I have to
work on the weekends, which I do now, that's what it'll take."

Wethington said he expects some relief with the establishment of a family
court judge position. That would allow the two current circuit judges to
focus more exclusively on criminal matters, but if approved that position
would not be available until September 2003.

New law, penalties proposed

In 1999, legislators passed a state law making it illegal to possess the
farm fertilizer anhydrous ammonia with the intent of manufacturing
methamphetamine.

Now the Kentucky Sheriff's Association is hoping to file a bill that would
establish criminal penalties regarding sudaphedrine, a chemical found in
many over-the-counter decongestants, said Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain.

The specifics have yet to be worked out, but the gist of the law would make
it illegal to possess certain quantities of the decongestant and limit the
availability of sudaphedrine by moving it from store shelves to racks
behind the counter, Cain said.

Law enforcement has worked with businesses and pharmacies in order to alert
them about warning signs of someone who may be buying mass quantities of
the decongestant. Often stores notify police or refuse to sell several
boxes to one customer, but no law requires them to do so.

Police have fought meth proliferation with educational services,
billboards, seminars, training and $350,000 of a $750,000 federal grant
obtained for 2001 by U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis, R-Cecilia.

Daviess County will also benefit during 2002 from a similar $1.5 million
grant that will be divided among counties in western Kentucky.

The majority of the money goes to cleaning up meth labs.

In each occurrence, police and fire crews work to dismantle volatile and
explosive chemicals often stored in glass jars or cheap plastic containers.
The work by police includes special training, overtime and proper disposal
of chemicals that may add up to $7,000 for one lab, depending on the type
and size, said Lt. Jeff Jones with the sheriff's department.

Police have also suggested increasing penalties for having a child in the
presence of a meth lab and the harmful chemical fumes, Cain said.

State Rep. Mark Treesh, R-Philpot, said he fought for the anhydrous ammonia
legislation and believes the state has come far with the battle against
methamphetamine but still has a way to go.

Treesh said he has reservations about limiting the possession of an
over-the-counter drug, but he is willing to explore options.

"I'll listen to that with an open mind, but I think there are going to be
considerations on both sides," Treesh said. "Whatever we do there will have
to be carefully crafted. I'll do what I can to support the sheriff's
department, but it's going to be a balancing act."

Van Meter said the key to making any ingredient of methamphetamine illegal
to possess would be to prove that it was intended to manufacture
methamphetamine.

That step would safeguard the innocent consumer and catch those who would
be taking advantage of the drug's over-the-counter status, he said.

"It has a definitely ruined families, unlike any other drug before," Van
Meter said. "I think it's time that we look at this as a community problem
and not as a police problem."

Because of the nature of meth investigations, many of the operations and
surveillance are covert and not known by the public, Jones said.

About 85 percent of the 525 indictments in Daviess Circuit Court are
somehow related to narcotics, involving either burglaries to get cash and
jewelry for drugs, robberies for drug money or assaults related to drug
deals and territory, Van Meter said.

Of the people arrested for meth manufacturing, all but one were under the
influence of the drug, according to information from the sheriff's
department. Of the people arrested, 33 percent of them were armed.

Van Meter said he would like to see the resources for the Daviess County
Drug Court expand.

"That's doing wonders for the meth addict here in Daviess County," Van
Meter said.