The Associated Press
PHOENIX- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has unveiled a plan to disrupt the flow of methamphetamine from Mexico and vowed to work with state lawmakers on a bill that beefs up law enforcement and prevention programs.
Republican lawmakers are offering a $12 million (euro10 million) proposal that includes more money for police, prevention and education.
The Democratic governor used Arizona’s first conference on the meth crisis to announce a $5 million (euro4.21 million) plan that includes three teams of “interdiction” squads to target methamphetamine produced in Mexico and brought into Arizona.
The 11-person teams, which would work in the Yuma, Tucson and Phoenix areas of Arizona, would be hired by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Napolitano said these new officers could also play a role in tackling problems associated with Arizona’s illegal immigration.
“This is a clarion call to combat the epidemic of the meth addiction in our state,” Napolitano said Monday. “Methamphetamine is to Arizona what crack cocaine was to inner cities a decade ago. It has infiltrated every community.”
Authorities believe a lion’s share of the meth used in Arizona is produced in labs in Mexico and Southern California run by organized crime and street gangs. The remaining supply comes from makeshift meth labs in Arizona.
Meth figures into a huge number of crimes, leaves labs that are hazardous-waste sites and endangers children. Kids were found in the homes involved in about a third of Arizona’s 102 meth-lab raids in 2004.
The primary ingredient in meth is ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold medicines.
Many Arizona cities have passed ordinances that would limit access to over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines such as Sudafed. So far, the Legislature has not passed a statewide bill.