August 16, 2004
Fitzgerald- Methamphetamine is deadly, highly addictive, and spreading like wildfire.
"The meth epidemic in Georgia is steadily rising, every year we see a steady increase," says Major J. D. Anderson, Commander of the South Central Drug Task Force.
Anderson says he's excited that now even Governor Sonny Perdue has recognized the need to combat meth.
"As the ability of the cooker progresses, so does their ability evade detection and it's just critical that we all stay together and compare notes."
Those notes may be the key to keeping cookers from teaching others and getting more advanced.
"It estimated that 20% of all labs nationwide are found by explosion or fire, so we certainly don't want anybody to start experimenting, but unfortunately they do. When you see them start straying away from the mainstream method of how they put his stuff together, that's when you start seeing the explosions and the fires."
That's also when the drug can become hazardous to the entire community and not just those who use it.
200 drug enforcement officials, treatment professionals, and even environmental health groups were invited to two-day the summit.
Posted at 5:30 PM by elaine.armstrong@walb.com
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