November 25, 2005

The Battle against Meth

COLUMBUS, OH – Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Upper Arlington) today submitted the following editorial:

Tragically, methamphetamine is quickly becoming as prevalent within our communities as it is dangerous to our children.  Meth, as it is more commonly known, is a highly addictive stimulant drug that can be taken orally, injected, snorted or smoked, and can be produced through a process known as cooking using cold medicines easily purchased over the counter at nearby drug stores. 

The impact of meth on users is incomprehensibly devastating.  Addiction comes faster, highs last longer, and meth users are left with rotting teeth, respiratory problems, sores from picking at their skin, and severe mental illness.  As attaining another meth high becomes the user’s sole objective, employment, housing, education, morality, and all other considerations are completely disregarded, and their lives are irreparably ruined.

Once considered primarily a threat to America’s Southwest, use and production of methamphetamine has moved steadily eastward, with an especially severe impact on the Midwest. Statistics paint a troubling picture of the growing meth problem:  the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reports that since 1999, the number of illegal meth labs seized in Ohio has risen nearly 2000%, from 14 in 1999 to 286 in 2004.  And according to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 5.2% of Americans age 12 and older had tried methamphetamines at least once.

The itinerant nature of meth labs makes them increasingly difficult for law enforcement to locate and raid.  Meth labs can be portable and easily dismantled, stored, or moved, and have been created in spaces as small as a trunk of a car.  While the fact that meth is illegal and deadly should be deterrent enough, the process by which meth is produced releases incredibly flammable and volatile chemicals, causing significant environmental damage and explaining why meth labs frequently explode.

Today, meth cooks have easy access to the legal common ingredients that are used to create illegal methamphetamine.  In fact, every American family probably has them in their medicine chest.  Pseudoephedrine, PPA, and ephedrine—three ingredients used to make methamphetamine—can be found in most over the counter cold and sinus medicines. 

The unique properties of methamphetamines necessitate innovative approaches to combating the proliferation of the drug.  To that end, the Franklin County Sheriff's department conducts an awareness and anti-meth program called Street Smart.  It has been nationally recognized for its effectiveness by the FBI and received the agency's 2004 Community Leadership Award.  Graphic images of meth-ravaged users and detailed information about the production and forms of meth are used by the presenters to educate and illustrate the devastation that meth can cause.  Meth abuse is not yet considered full-blown in central Ohio, but it is on its way.  Programs like Street Smart provide a proactive approach in communities like Columbus where the problem is not yet overwhelming, but the threat is real and imminent.    

The federal government is taking steps to wage the fight against meth in communities across America.  Legislation is making its way through the House of Representatives as H.R. 3889, the Methamphetamine Epidemic Elimination Act.  I am a cosponsor of this bill, which would make it harder for methamphetamine dealers to produce and market the drug.  It also calls for the State Department to more closely monitor the importation of pseudoephedrine.

On a parallel track is reauthorization of the Patriot Act, which contains language to combat the meth epidemic.  The bill will make the procurement of the precursor meth ingredients more difficult by curtailing the ability of producers to purchase large quantities of over-the-counter medicines.  In addition, the anti-meth language will reform existing laws relating to domestic and international regulation of methamphetamine precursors, restrict internet and mobile vendor sales of precursors, and enhance criminal penalties levied against those who produce, sell, or possess the drug.  The Patriot Act also authorizes additional treatment programs for children endangered by methamphetamine traffickers, and improves the drug court program to require more accountability and drug testing of participants.  The House and Senate are slated to consider the Patriot Act in December; without reauthorization, the critically-needed tools the Act provides to law enforcement in the fight against terrorism will expire at year’s end. 

The methamphetamine epidemic is not hype – it is a real threat to central Ohio.  We have seen what meth has done to our neighboring states of  Indiana and Kentucky.  We are watching meth creep into border towns in Ohio, and we know what is at risk.  Federal, state, and local governments, law enforcement, parents, and schools must increase and strengthen efforts, like Street Smart, to educate our young people and our entire community about the risks of meth.  We need to fight now to prevent meth from permeating into central Ohio, ravaging our streets and destroying lives.