DRUG COURTS RECOMMENDED TO FIGHT METH

Program Could Discourage Drug's Spread, Advocates Say

COLUMBIA - A group of law enforcement agencies and public health and
social services organizations suggest a statewide drug court to cut
down on methamphetamine use in South Carolina.

More than 450 representatives worked on the plan to fight the growing
attraction of methamphetamine.

The drug known as "meth" is an increasing problem. In 2003-04, the
Lexington County Sheriff's Department broke up 28 methamphetamine
facilities, made 60 arrests and seized about 17 pounds of the drug.

The next year, the numbers rose to 61 meth labs, 84 arrests and nearly
50 pounds of meth. In all, the sheriff's office took in about $3
million worth of methamphetamine.

Part of fighting the drug's spread is establishing drug courts in
every county, says Jack Claypool, president and chief executive of the
Lexington-Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council.

The recommendations came from a statewide meeting held in Myrtle Beach
last month. The full plan will be made public in January.

Richland County and Columbia have had a drug court since 1997.
Prosecutor Barney Giese says offenders undergo drug testing and meet
with a judge every two weeks. Giese says the court focuses on those
crimes that are motivated by drug use.

"If you stop the addiction, you stop the crime," Giese
said.

Giese says about two of every three crimes in Richland and Kershaw
counties are drug-related.

However, drug courts can vary by county: Richland County has a
separate drug court for juvenile offenders, while adjoining Lexington
County does not.

Another part of the meth battle plan encourages communities to respond
to the level of their drug problem.

"Each community can match the problems that they have," Claypool
said.

For instance, Claypool said Richland County's main problem is people
bringing in the drug to sell, while Lexington County faces more
manufacturing facilities.

"You've got a demographic in Lexington County that aids in the use of
meth," said Lt. Byron Snellgrove, head of the Lexington County
Sheriff's Department's Multiagency Narcotics Enforcement Team. "We
have some very vast rural areas that these cookers like to use to cook."