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America is making great strides in combating illegal methamphetamine production, distribution and use and Tennessee law enforcement is on the cutting edge of this fight. But when many of the victims of meth continue to be the innocent children of meth dealers and addicts, now is no time to rest on our successes.
In 2000, nationwide there were 9,056 meth lab seizures, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). By 2004, that number had increased to about 17,500 lab seizures – an increase of about 9,000 in only four years. This shows how meth addiction spreads like wildfire across our country and why state governments and Congress needed to act swiftly to put this fire out.
Rural East Tennessee has been hit especially hard by meth. Because of its rugged topography, it is easier to hide meth labs and mask the terrible odor that gives them away from neighbors and police. While we know we have a very serious challenge with increased meth production in the foothills of Appalachia, we are on the attack against it documented by the fact that in 2004, 1559 labs were busted in our state and 1137 were shut down in my district where we have set up the model meth-combating partnership between local, state and federal agencies.
But the victims of this evil scourge range far beyond the addicts whose bodies are destroyed by it. Last year in Tennessee alone, more than 700 children – many of them merely infants - were taken into state custody and care because of methamphetamine. Some of them had their homes turned into meth labs by their parents, some were taken away because their parents took meth and still others because their parents are now serving prison sentences. The most tragic cases are those children who need medical care and counseling because their exposure to meth has essentially made them addicted to it.
To address this problem, I and Congressman Jim Cooper authored bipartisan legislation that was signed into law this year to protect meth-endangered children. It establishes a grant program that will assist states in their efforts to set up comprehensive, drug-endangered children’s (DEC) programs. DEC programs use a team approach with specialized services and training for professionals working with the young meth victims. Teams include child protective services, the district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s department and public health nursing agencies.
And there is good news in that we are on track for a 22 percent reduction in lab seizures nationwide for 2005. For Tennessee, in May there were only 48 lab seizures statewide, the lowest monthly total since September of 2003. Law enforcement officials credit much of this to the passage of state laws restricting over-the-counter sales of the ingredients for meth and the creation of new computer database and extensive training that has been made possible by the federal appropriations that I have directed to East Tennessee with the help of Senators Frist and Alexander.
More recently, I worked with the Senators in advocating for a $4 million line-item to create the Tennessee Statewide Meth Task Force, modeled after our very successful South/East Tennessee Task Force. The creation of this statewide task force could not have come at a better time. In a briefing this month on Capitol Hill, ONDCP director John Walters told Members of Congress that the shortfall in meth availability caused by law enforcement’s disruption of small domestic lab activity is now being supplanted by the smuggling in of high-quality ready to use meth commonly referred to as “ice” produced in “super labs” mainly in Mexico.
“Ice, it’s all anybody talks about anymore,” a senior member of South/East Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force told me recently. “The worst part about it is that since it comes in the U.S already user ready and doesn’t need a rural out of the way place to be “cooked” without detection, it is really penetrating the inner cities and established drug dealers are picking up on the action.”
That is why the President has proposed a three-point plan, which I strongly support, to combat the rise in synthetic drug use. The first two goals of the Synthetics Strategy are to reduce the use of methamphetamine use and the abuse of illicit prescription drugs by the overall population of Americans 12 years old and up by the end of 2008.
The plan also aims, by 2008, to use the Combat Meth Act to reduce the number of domestic meth labs by 25 percent. Since over-the-counter drug laws and new federal regulations have reduced the supply of materials available to meth cookers, pseudoephedrine produced in other countries is now being smuggled in to the U.S. and diverted to meth cookers.
With a combination of national initiatives and stronger state laws we can and will work together to attack the proliferation of methamphetamine in our region. As a very active member of the Speakers Task Force for a Drug Free America and a partner in the nationally acclaimed South/East Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, I will continue to fight to rid our communities of illegal drugs, reduce the manufacture and sale of methamphetamines and help save our families from the catastrophe that follows drug abuse wherever it goes.
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