A decline in the number of methamphetamine labs in Southwest Virginia is welcome news — but it’s not time to drop our guard.
A recent report noted state police seized six such suspected labs between October and January — less than a quarter of what was seized during the same time period a year earlier. In Washington County alone, which had 26 meth lab seizures in 2004, the number of suspected seizures dropped to six last year.
Officials have credited the decline in labs to the governor’s executive order that moved the decongestants ephedrine and pseudoephedrine behind the counters in stores. These two ingredients are used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
But while the number of meth labs appears to be on the decline, distribution of the drug has continued to climb.
Virginia State Police seized 2,700 grams of methamphetamine in Southwest Virginia in 2004. That number jumped to 9,500 last year, the Associated Press reported.
“I’d like to think we’re making a lot of progress, but I think there’s more of a problem with it now than ever,” Marion police investigator and Smyth County Drug Task Force member April Morgan said.
Locally, we have been fortunate. In recent years neighboring counties to the north, south, east and west appeared to have a dramatic increase in the number of meth lab seizures, while our area seemed to remain relatively unscathed by the new plague.
Yet that does not mean the epidemic has passed us by.
We have not experienced a rash of lab seizures in our corner of Southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia, however use and distribution of methamphetamine continues to be a problem our law enforcement officials battle.
Officials in Southwest Virginia report they are now concerned about import of the drug from “Mexican superlabs.”
“I have a more long-term concern about the influx of imported methamphetamine than I do meth labs,” Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force Coordinator Richard Stallard said.
We, too, are concerned about the future.
State action that moved items used to manufacture meth behind the counter in stores and is now credited with the decline in labs demonstrates there are effective methods of dealing with this problem.
State executive and legislative branches, as well as the public, must continue to support law enforcement, county prosecutors and others on the front-line of this war.
Continued vigilance is the only solution to this problem.
Editorials
February 27, 2006
War on meth: Vigilance key in combating problem
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