Methamphetamine use and production is growing in the state of Tennessee. Meanwhile, law enforcement officers across the state are fighting the good fight against its production. In 1999 alone Tennessee law enforcement seized 116 labs and as of Aug. 1 of this year, they have put about 170 out of commission. America is gaining ground in the war on drugs, but more needs to be done to curb this epidemic.

This Republican Congress is committed to giving local law enforcement agencies the resources they need to fight methamphetamine production and use. Congressman Zach Wamp has been one of the leaders of this fight, spending the last three years on the Speaker?s Task Force fighting illegal drugs and working to beef up the war on illegal methamphetamine production in East Tennessee.

And as a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary, Wamp was able to convince the House to include another $900,000 this year for East Tennessee methamphetamine eradication. This money is in addition to the $1million secured last year.

These funds are being used to buy additional equipment for law enforcement, including computers for processing intelligence information about methamphetamine producers and to pay two Tennessee National Guardsmen based in Chattanooga to work with intelligence information. The money will also pay overtime for task force officers and buy needed safety equipment, including respirators and protective suits, for officers who handle hazardous chemicals taken in lab seizures.

"The methamphetamine merchants of death should know that I will continue to do all I can to help our federal, state and local law officers fight and eliminate this scourge," Wamp said. "This is a fight that we must win."