DRUG CZAR GIVES METH UPDATE IN INDY

Recent efforts have driven many of the small meth labs out of business
but the factories have relocated and the drug continues to flow, the
nation's drug czar said this morning during a visit to Indianapolis
"Organized criminals now produce large quantities of methamphetamine
in Mexico and are moving it across our borders," said John P. Walters,
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Walters addressed the media today before giving the keynote speech to
the Midwestern Governors Association's summit on meth being held at
the Westin Hotel. More than 150 leaders from 13 states are
participating in this first regional meeting aimed at better battling
the highly addictive drug.

The people who run basement and barn-yard meth labs are having a more
difficult time getting the ingredients to make the drug, Walters said,
thanks to new laws like one in Indiana that moved cold medicines
behind the pharmacy counter.

Indiana law enforcement agents busted a record 1,549 meth labs last
year; compared to 939 lab busts as of Nov. 30, 2005.

During the two-day summit, Indiana hopes to learn from states like
Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa, where the western swing of the meth
problem hit first.

"We know we will be challenged by this problem every single day of our
service," Gov. Mitch Daniels said. "We look forward to learning from
our sister states for the next two days."