News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2004
Robert J. Caldwell
Editorial Page Editor
The Oregonian
Commentary Page
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Dear Mr. Caldwell: Steve Suo's series of articles
titled "Unnecessary Epidemic" shortchanges DEA's efforts and
successes to immunize this country against the plague of methamphetamine.
Oregonian readers deserve to know the full story of our fight against
the drug, instead of relying on the series' outdated, incomplete data.
Mr. Suo would have readers believe that the DEA has "overlooked" super
labs -- those meth labs on the West Coast that supply the bulk of methamphetamine
across the United States. In fact, law enforcement has seen a dramatic
decline in U.S. based meth super labs since 2001. The DEA accomplished
this through the combined efforts and heroic work of state and local
law enforcement, our agents and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Together
we focused on blocking bulk pseudoephedrine -- the principal precursor
chemical used in methamphetamine production -- from making its way from
major Canadian chemical wholesalers to the United States and into the
hands of super lab cooks. As a result of these efforts, since 2001, law
enforcement officers have seen 62 percent fewer methamphetamine super
labs in the United States. Enforcement worked so well that there was
little left of super labs or diverted bulk chemicals to go after -- pseudoephedrine
and ephedrine seizures at the Canadian border dropped a staggering 85
percent, and the price of bulk pseudoephedrine in California doubled.
Just last month, the DEA arrested 90 methamphetamine and ephedrine traffickers
along with their accomplices in a single operation.
Mr. Suo erroneously reports that DEA has limited its methamphetamine
enforcement initiatives with too little money or manpower, claiming the
agency spends only $20 million a year to track the flow of pseudoephedrine
and ephedrine. To the contrary, DEA spends seven times that amount -
$140 million annually - on enforcement, tracking chemicals and investigating
illegal shipments of pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and other precursors
used to make methamphetamine. DEA has 535 full time Diversion Investigators
-- not the 100 total investigators cited by Mr. Suo -- all of whom receive
extensive chemical control investigation training.
In the past seven years, more than 2,000 chemical registrants have been
denied, surrendered or withdrew their registration licenses or applications
as a result of DEA investigations. Between 2001 and 2003, DEA Diversion
Investigators physically inspected almost half of the 3,000 chemical
registrants at their places of business, investigating the adequacy of
their security safeguards to prevent the diversion of chemicals to the
illicit market and auditing their recordkeeping to ensure compliance
with federal regulations.
An Oregonian editorial about Mr. Suo's articles suggests that U.S. methamphetamine
production could be stopped if DEA would simply ask India and other chemical
exporting countries to give us all their shipping records and control
their pseudoephedrine exports. In fact, DEA has asked India and a host
of other nations to stop these shipments, but those countries have no
legal obligation to do so. The 1988 United Nations Vienna Convention
Treaty outlines global cooperation on stopping amphetamine trafficking.
Unfortunately, the treaty does not include pseudoephedrine combination
products used to manufacture methamphetamine. Without changing that treaty
and its loophole, the DEA has little or no power to demand shipment information.
Despite these difficulties, DEA is working with overseas officials to
prevent the diversion of pseudoephedrine from Europe, China and India.
Additionally, through DEA's collaborative efforts with some willing countries,
we have tracked shipments from those countries into Mexico, leading to
the arrest of Mexican pseudoephedrine brokers and the seizure of millions
of pseudoephedrine tablets during the past year.
Although we have achieved great success putting super labs and methamphetamine
precursor chemical suppliers out of business, DEA needs more help from
lawmakers to put the thousands of smaller toxic methamphetamine labs
out of business.
Last April, the State of Oklahoma passed a hard hitting law that helps
do that. Oklahoma took action after methamphetamine related incidents
took the lives of three Oklahoma State Troopers. Oklahoma lawmakers were
fed up with the skyrocketing number of small toxic methamphetamine labs
endangering the public and the environment so they passed the "Nik
Greene, Rocky Eales, Matthew Evans Act.” This first-of-its-kind
law states that only pharmacies can sell pseudoephedrine "cold remedy" products.
It goes even farther and requires pharmacists to dispense those drugs
from behind the counter (without the necessity of a prescription), requires
customers to show ID and limits purchases to approximately twelve, 24
tablet cold remedy packages per month. The results are staggering --
meth lab seizures in Oklahoma are down 50 percent in the first six months
of the new law.
Recently, in response to a request from Governor Ted Kulongoski, the
Oregon Board of Pharmacy adopted temporary administrative rules that
restrict the sale of cold medicine products. Although these rules do
not go as far as the Oklahoma law, they are a good first step and DEA
commends Oregon as it joins the growing list of states nationwide taking
the initiative to reduce access to the products used in the production
of methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine is no "kiddie dope" to DEA, as anonymously
portrayed in Mr. Suo's articles. Every day, the men and women of DEA
witness first hand the tragic consequences of methamphetamine trafficking
and abuse. We see the carnage wrought from the manufacturing, trafficking,
and abuse of this poison: the broken families, the addictions that steal
away so much, and the loss of life. DEA is fighting on the front lines
--- from the streets of Portland, to America's heartland, and across
our borders in Mexico and faraway places like China --- to make the methamphetamine
epidemic a closed chapter in our history.
Sincerely,
Karen P. Tandy
Administrator
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