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Sheriffs believe meth is country's top drug problem, report finds
By Associated Press
Published: 07/11/2005

The crippling reach of methamphetamine abuse has become the leading drug problem affecting local law enforcement agencies, according to a survey of 500 sheriff's departments in 45 states.
About 90 percent of the sheriffs interviewed for a National Association of Counties survey released last Tuesday reported increases in meth-related arrests in their counties over the last three years, and more than half of those interviewed said they considered meth the most serious problems their department faces.
The arrests have packed jails in the Midwest and elsewhere and swamped other county-level agencies, which face additional work, such as caring for children whose parents have become addicted and cleaning up toxic chemicals left behind by meth cookers.
"We're finding out that this is bigger problem than we thought," said Larry Naake, executive director of the association. "Folks at the state and federal level need to know about this."
The report comes soon after the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy restated its stance that marijuana remains the nation's most substantial drug problem. Federal estimates show there are 15 million marijuana users compared with the 1 million that might use meth.
Dave Murray, a policy analyst for the White House, said he understood that the meth problem moving through the nation was serious and substantial. But he disagreed that it had reached the state of an epidemic.
"This thing is burning, and because it's burning, we're going to put it out," he said. "But we can't turn our back on other threats."
While most in law enforcement recognize marijuana as a problem, those costs are far outweighed by those from jailing inmates on meth charges, cleaning up makeshift labs and caring for the children left behind when addicted parents are sent to prison or treatment, said Sheriff Jon Marvel of western Indiana's Vigo County.
Marvel estimates that 80 percent of the inmates in his county's jail in Terre Haute are held on meth-related charges. He also points to an operating budget that has risen from $800,000 in 1999 to about $3.4 million last year as the best way to illustrate the stranglehold meth has on the county's resources.
The regions the report cites as having the greatest increase in meth arrests over the last five years include the upper Midwest, the Southwest and Northwest.
States that reported a doubling of meth arrests over the last five years include: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wyoming. States reporting similar increases in the last three years were Georgia, Kentucky, South Dakota, Iowa and Mississippi.
A component of the survey examining meth's effect on children found that 40 percent of child welfare officials in 13 states where welfare is a county responsibility said they had removed more children from homes because of meth.


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