http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050719/NEWS02/10 7190040/-1/opinion Article published Jul 19, 2005 Gonzales calls drug 'most dangerous'
By JERRY HARKAVY The Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday that "the scourge of methamphetamine" has spread across the nation but law enforcement is making progress in battling the drug. "In terms of damage to children and to our society, meth is now the most dangerous drug in America, having surpassed marijuana," Gonzales told the summer conference of the National District Attorneys Association. A decade ago, he said, meth was a deadly drug that plagued the western states, but has since spread across the entire country. Initially associated with blue-collar users in rural areas, meth has invaded the big cities and its abusers include members of all racial and economic groups, he said. Recent national figures indicated that 600,000 Americans used meth within a 30-day period, he said, and a survey of the nation's counties founded that 58 percent of them ranked meth as the No. 1 drug problem, three times that of cocaine. Gonzales focused on the devastating impact on children, detailing stories of toddlers growing up in households that were home to toxic meth labs or in an atmosphere of neglect by parents strung out on meth. "It crushes the dreams and potential of thousands of children who grow up around the dangerous drug," he said. For law enforcement, meth poses a problem that demands unconventional and innovative solutions, Gonzales said. He said meth lab seizures have dropped dramatically in states such as Oklahoma, Oregon and Arkansas after they moved to restrict consumer access to cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient used in manufacturing the drug. "These results are dramatic and they're real," he said. "They show progress is possible." On the international level, Gonzales said the federal government is working with China to curb its sales of that ingredient to "super labs" in Mexico that, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, supply 65 percent of the meth in the U.S. market. "We know it works domestically, we know it works internationally," he said. The attorney general also emphasized the importance of education and prevention, saying community leaders, schools and parents need to become involved. He cited efforts to encourage neighbors to report suspected drug activity in a confidential manner and to enlist child protective services to help children of families caught up in meth addiction. Earlier in his speech, Gonzales made a pitch for retaining provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year. Some elements of the anti-terrorism act, such as those allowing expanded surveillance of terror suspects and permitting secret proceedings in immigration cases, have drawn the ire of civil liberties advocates. Gonzales expressed optimism that Congress would ensure that "law enforcement officials have the tools they need to protect our country - tools that are consistent with our values and are consistent with the rights provided for under the Constitution." _____ C 2003, Telegraph Publishing Company, Nashua, New Hampshire [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
