Letter to the Editor By Senator Cam Ward
12.10.14 – Senator Cam Ward, The Cherokee Herald
To the Editor:
The Associated Press recently highlighted an unmistakable trend in drug enforcement: a dramatic decline in domestic methamphetamine laboratories fueled in part by an influx of Mexican-made meth across the country.
According to the article, because Mexican-made meth is purer, cheaper and sadly easier to get these days, fewer criminals are making homegrown meth, which can lead to home fires and even explosions. In other words, this story comes with equal parts good news and bad news.
But before we get too upset about these developments, it’s critical to point out that our law enforcement community has taken a number of significant steps to crack down on meth criminals. For instance, our police force use real-time tracking of pseudoephedrine purchases, while our pharmacists use a system – called a meth offender block list – that prohibits meth offenders from buying those cold and allergy products. Surely these efforts, which have demonstrated clear results in recent years, are also helping lead to a reduction in homegrown meth labs.
Going forward, as lawmakers consider ways to step up the battle against meth, they should focus on the real sources of the problem: Mexican meth and addition
Sincerely,
Senator Cam Ward
124 Newgate Road
Alabaster, Ala. 35007
The Cherokee Herald
December 10, 2014