SUMMIT URGES ALL-OUT WAR ON DRUGS; DEADLY NUMBERS ARE CITED

The nation's war on drugs must be fought on all fronts and involve everyone from parents to police and school staff to students, speakers at an anti-drug summit said Tuesday.

"A lot of people say we can't fight this; we are not going to win," said U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. But the Cape Girardeau Republican insisted the war can be won.

Emerson said a single approach won't solve the problem. "There is no cookie-cutter-style solution," she said.

Emerson hosted the two-hour anti-drug summit. The interactive video conference involved presentations at six colleges in the region, including Southeast Missouri State University.

Emerson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Ferrell spoke at the Southeast Missouri State site.

Also participating were Three Rivers Community College at Poplar Bluff, the Bootheel Education Center at Malden, Mineral Area College at Park Hills, Southwest Missouri State University's West Plains campus and the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Presenters at those sites included officers of the Missouri Highway Patrol and the SEMO Drug Task Force, an assistant police chief, a drug counselor, a high-school guidance counselor and a high school student.

Emerson said too many parents want to ignore the drug problem. "I am dismayed that there are so many parents who don't believe there is a problem in the schools."

Some 259,000 Missourians or about 5 percent of the state's population suffer from alcohol- or drug-abuse problems or both, she said.

An estimated 23.8 percent of the nation's high school seniors used illegal drugs in 1995, Emerson said.

Emerson said Missouri is in line to receive more federal money to fight production and trafficking of methamphetamine. Missouri has been plagued by the spread of methamphetamine labs in recent years. Missouri ranks second only to California in production of methamphetamine.

Much of that has occurred in Southeast Missouri.

In fiscal 1992, only three meth labs were seized in the state. Last year the number exploded to 250.

Authorities expect the total to climb to more than 400 this year, said Kevin Glazier, a member of the SEMO Drug Task Force and a former undercover officer.

Glazier said methamphetamine can easily be manufactured from household chemicals and other items that can be bought at hardware or discount stores. Chemicals used to make the illegal drug include drain cleaner, car-engine starting fluid and cold pills.

He said it is as simple as baking a cake. An investment of a couple hundred dollars can produce 1-to-3 ounces of high-grade methamphetamine. The powdery substance sells on the street for $1,800 to $2,200 an ounce, he said.

Glazier said those meth manufacturers often start out doing it just for the money, but quickly get addicted to the drug themselves.

"This isn't going to go away. This is not a fad drug," said Glazier.

As an assistant U.S. attorney, Ferrell has prosecuted numerous drug dealers. Ferrell said illegal drugs are big business nationwide.

From 1988 to 1991, the annual retail trade in illicit drugs amounted to between $45 billion and $51 billion, one federal study found.

In 1991, Americans spent about $49 billion on illegal drugs. The figure included $30 billion for cocaine, $9 billion for heroin, $8 billion for marijuana and $2 billion for other illegal drugs, Ferrell said.

At any given time there is an estimated 274 to 442 metric tons of cocaine available for consumption, said Ferrell. The cocaine is valued at $42 billion to $68 billion.

In 1990, 1.1 million people were arrested on drug charges in the United States, Ferrell said.

Each year, illegal drugs kill more than 16,000 Americans, he said. More than half of all criminal defendants have substance-abuse problems, he said.

Ferrell said the nation needs to reduce the demand for and supply of illegal drugs.

Educating youths about the dangers of drugs is an important component, Ferrell said.

Missouri Highway Patrol officer Brent Davis said children who drink alcohol often graduate to other drugs. Nationwide, four million teen-agers are alcoholics, he said.

Charles Brotherton, assistant police chief of West Plains, said small towns don't have the resources to combat increasing drug trafficking and drug-related crimes.

In 1990, West Plains police made 29 drug arrests; last year, they made 80. In 1997, West Plains police are on a pace to make 120 drug arrests by year's end, Brotherton said.

Jamie Myers is executive director of Prevention Consultants of Missouri, a drug-counseling firm. Myers said effective parenting programs are important in the war on drugs. "Parenting is not easy," he said.

But he said parents should serve as good role models and act responsibly. "It's not OK for your kids to be out all night," Myers said.

At Clarkton High School in the Missouri Bootheel, the school's athletes must undergo random drug testing. If a student tests positive for drugs, he or she is barred from participating in school-sponsored sports for 30 days, said Tina Broglin, a counselor at the school.

That suspension is reduced to 15 days if the student goes through a drug treatment program. A student who tests positive a second time is banned from school sports for a year, Broglin said.

Clarkton High School student Cassandra Kirkpatrick said alcohol is the most commonly abused drug at her school. Most high school students don't think of it as a drug, she said.