Maria Cantwell: “I believe that we are facing an epidemic in this nation that has the potential to be every bit as devastating as the…”

“I believe that we are facing an epidemic in this nation that has the potential to be every bit as devastating as the crack cocaine epidemic of the early 1990s. That epidemic is the rapidly spreading abuse of the drug methamphetamine. Except that unlike crack cocaine, meth will not devastate our inner cities--it will instead primarily devastate our rural communities. I am sure that the Chairman is aware that rural areas are uniquely hospitable to meth production, and the paranoid users of meth seek out rural areas because they know that our law enforcement officers are spread thin, and that they lack the manpower and the resources to constantly find and destroy new labs. A study by the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia found that eighth graders living in rural America are 104 percent more likely to use amphetamines than eighth graders in urban areas. This is the reason that we are intent on ensuring that local law enforcement agencies have as much assistance as possible in fighting the further spread of the drug.”