MORE FUNDING TO CLEAN UP DEADLY METH LABS

Missouri law enforcement officers should breathe a little easier thanks to $1.3 million in new equipment and training being made available to 24 drug task forces in the state.

The equipment includes protective coveralls, chemical-resistant gloves, goggles and respirators.

They are needed as much if not more than guns and bullets in a drug war that has become an environmental nightmare.

In the war on methamphetamine, Gov. Mel Carnahan's recent announcement of more funding for equipment and training for officers who have to clean up meth labs is welcome news.

The majority of the money will come from state funds approved by lawmakers as part of anti-meth legislation passed a year ago.

Most of the money will go for special equipment needed to clean up the illegal meth labs.

The state will spend about $300,000 on new safety equipment and $460,000 on specialized laboratory equipment. Another $60,000 will be used for law enforcement training and $381,000 for new investigative equipment.

These homemade meth labs are hazardous-waste sites, full of dangerous and volatile chemicals that pose a risk to anyone that comes in contact with them.

Drug makers usually cook the mix in rural areas. Many of these labs are in Southeast Missouri.

It is estimated that about 800 meth labs in Missouri will have been shut down by the end of the year. All of those are hazardous waste sites.

Cleaning up these sites is as important as arresting the purveyors of poison.

Even labs abandoned by the drug cookers are a danger to the community if they go undetected. They literally can be time bombs waiting to explode.

It would be foolish to send law-enforcement officers into such pressure cookers without the proper training and safety equipment.

The right tools are essential in combating the proliferation of meth labs.

Missouri's willingness to spend the money in the war on meth is a wise investment in our law enforcement community and in the future for all Missourians.