By Susan Gaertner
In my 20 years as a prosecutor, I have seldom seen a more alarming threat to public safety than the proliferation of methamphetamine. The signs are everywhere -- skyrocketing drug arrests, increases in other serious crimes, an escalating prison population.
The numbers are astounding: Meth-related drug charges in Minnesota increased by 800 percent over the past five years -- reaching 5,071 cases in 2004. And in Minnesota prisons, the number of meth offenders has doubled in less than two years.
This extremely addictive drug is devastating to users, accounting for hundreds of emergency room visits and countless shattered lives. We can only guess at how many children have been neglected by meth-addicted parents -- or endangered by toxic home meth labs. The drug also has wide-ranging impacts on the environment, the economy and social services.
The Legislature is considering various proposals to curb the meth crisis, including enhanced criminal penalties and restrictions on common cold medicines used in making the drug. Minnesota's prosecutors strongly support these measures. We are very much committed to aggressively enforcing the drug laws.
The criminal justice system, however, cannot single-handedly eradicate the meth epidemic. We simply can't make enough arrests and put enough people in prison to overcome the explosion in meth addiction and all of the related impacts on our community.
Besides aggressive law enforcement, we need to emphasize two other critical components in combating meth -- public education and treatment. It's important to strengthen our laws, but tougher sanctions won't help very much if the tide of meth users continues to swell and addicts aren't treated.
A massive public education campaign is essential. Meth has quickly moved beyond its rural roots. It's very much a metro problem, accounting for nearly 10 percent of admissions to drug treatment programs, according to the Hazelden Foundation. Sadly, many young people are among those getting hooked.
When I talk to teen-agers about meth, they invariably listen with rapt attention. They seem amazed to learn that meth actually changes the way your brain works, often resulting in severe personality changes, combativeness, paranoia and criminal behavior. They recoil at pictures of addicts who have been transformed by meth addiction into sunken-eyed, walking skeletons.
But too many young people and adults aren't getting the message. You wouldn't have to warn them not to point a gun at their heads and pull the trigger. But they play nearly as dangerous a game by using meth. We have to get through to them.
We also must commit resources to treatment. Meth addicts can be treated successfully, but experts agree that treatment has to cover many months to be effective. Such treatment isn't cheap, but it's cost effective in the long run. For every dollar spent on drug treatment, an estimated four to seven dollars are saved in reduced drug-related crime, criminal justice costs and theft alone.
As we develop a big-picture plan to combat meth, it's important to avoid seemingly unrelated public policy decisions that unintentionally undermine our efforts. Eliminating health insurance for the working poor, for example, could make it difficult for addicts to overcome the severe medical problems associated with meth addiction and to access treatment.
I urge our policy-makers to embrace a strategy that recognizes the importance of public education and treatment, along with a strong law enforcement response.
Note: This article originally was published in the Star Tribune on February 15, 2005.