January 2008
Greetings and Happy New Year!
Annual data just released by the Washington State Department of Ecology brought more good news in the war on meth. Once again, the number of meth labs and dump sites found in our state over the past year is down. The latest Clandestine Drug Lab Cleanup Activity report cites just 237 incidents in 2007, another record low since the peak of activity in 2001, when 1890 incidents were reported.
Although we can celebrate this outstanding progress in eliminating the threat of clandestine labs and toxic dump sites in our neighborhoods, meth use continues to be a huge problem for law enforcement across Washington, especially with the recent emergence of more discouraging cross-border trafficking trends.
Just last week, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy issued a warning about Canadian-made ecstacy pills laced with crystal meth being “dumped” in the U.S. And law enforcement agencies along the U.S.- Canada border report large increases in the flow of ecstasy from Canada into the U.S.
Fortunately, our federal drug enforcement agents are working diligently in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to gather the intelligence needed to wage an effective war on the organizations responsible for this latest threat.
Meanwhile, communities across Washington also deserve a great deal of credit for their determined efforts in the fight against meth. Among the most notable is the Partnership for a Drug Free America’s enormously successful Meth 360 education campaign.
Meth 360
As you know, Meth 360 is the national meth education and awareness initiative piloted in four states, included Washington last year. The campaign includes television ads and a trained team of law enforcement, prevention and treatment representatives visiting communities across the country with a no-nonsense message about the path of destruction meth has left in its wake. Citizens learn what meth is, where it comes from, how to identify a problem in their neighborhood, and where to turn for help. Here in Washington and across the country, Meth 360 is proving to be a powerful and effective model to raise community awareness about the dangers of meth.
Last fall, an online learning website was created by the Partnership to support the expansion of the program, enabling any community to implement Meth 360.
And due to popular demand, Partnership for a Drug Free America is currently in the process of developing Hispanic Meth 360 and other requested versions of the presentation. As these projects are currently in the research and development phase, any feedback from your community would be welcome and appreciated. To learn more, particularly if your community is not yet involved in the Meth 360 campaign, I urge you to visit this website http://www.drugfree.org/
School visits
Our 2007-08 meth school visits are well underway. Joining me again are Travis Talbott from Lead on America and Jamie, a young recovering meth addict from Eastern Washington. Each with their unique experiences, perspectives and knack for connecting with teenagers, convey their sincere dedication to keeping kids off meth, and leave a powerful impact on every audience. I’m very pleased to have both of them back on our team this year.
So far this year, we’ve visited schools in Colville, Republic, Curlew, Omak, Mansfield, Ritzville, Davenport, Forks and Port Townsend. To date, we’ve visited 43 schools and reached more than 26,000 students!
Statewide Youth Drug Summit
The AGO is exploring partnership opportunities to sponsor and host a 2008 Statewide Youth Drug Summit in Washington. For the past six years, the Snohomish County Youth Meth Action Team has hosted the enormously successful Statewide Youth Meth Summit. Each year, hundreds of students from communities across Washington gathered in Snohomish, united against meth, and eager to join forces with their peers to develop new strategies to address the growing problem of meth use among teens.
Although the Snohomish County team will be passing on the responsibility of hosting a summit this year, they are continuing their commitment to supporting and developing youth leadership on this issue by offering grants to local schools and churches interested in holding similar events in their communities.
Now is a critical time for others to step up to carry the torch passed on by the dedicated citizens of Snohomish County, and continue their work in 2008 by finding new ways to encourage and support each and every young person in our state who stands ready and willing get involved in the fight against meth. For more information, visit http://www.youthmethsummit.com/
Also, in addition to continuing our work on the meth front, we’ll be adding an emphasis this year to synthetic drug abuse prevention and education.
I look forward to our continuing work throughout 2008. Meanwhile, if we can assist you in any way, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Rob McKenna
Attorney General