EVERETT – U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell chose Everett as the stage Sunday to announce that she will introduce a bill this week calling for $800 million over 10 years to fight the methamphetamine epidemic nationwide.
“We don’t want to just push the problem to another part of the country,” Cantwell said, flanked by local law enforcement and elected officials at Everett Fire Station 1 on Rucker Avenue.
Local jurisdictions don’t have enough money to fight the battle, and federal support is declining, said Cantwell and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Snohomish, who was present for the announcement. Larsen is co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine.
Federal anti-meth support has dropped from $70 million in fiscal 2002 to $52 million for 2005, according to Cantwell’s office. For 2006, President Bush is proposing to cut the total to $20 million nationwide, Cantwell said.
“It’s going to take a national effort to stop it,” Larsen said. The problem is spreading around the country and others in Congress are becoming increasingly concerned, he said.
The money could be used by local governments for any aspect of the response to meth, including enforcement, training, prosecution, education and treatment.
Firefighters need specialized equipment, such as haz-mat suits, air packs and special radios to clean up a meth site, officials said. An air pack alone costs $5,000, said Everett Fire Chief Murray Gordon, and the haz-mat suits must be discarded after each use.
“Counties have very little resources to purchase this type of equipment,” Cantwell said.
Cleaning up a meth house can cost up to $25,000, said Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon.
Seventy percent of the people in the county jail are there for drug-related offenses and 35 percent of those are meth related, Reardon said.
“Taxpayers are paying for this,” he said.
Smaller counties are struggling the most, said county Sheriff Rick Bart. Larger counties such as Snohomish have to help them out, but are not always able, he said.
Also on hand for the announcement was recovering meth addict Ashley Kerwin, 19, of Mukilteo. She became addicted at 15 and her parents sent her to Mexico for treatment.
Most state-funded treatment programs here end too soon, and addicts are on their own before they’re through the most difficult period, said Mike Kerwin, Ashley’s father and a member of the Snohomish Meth Action Team.
Ashley Kerwin said education could help boost young people’s self-esteem so they can resist peer pressure.
Young addicts “don’t want to feel anymore; they don’t want to be depressed anymore; they don’t want to deal with everyday life,” she said.
The bill also calls for President Bush to strike a deal with Canada to better prevent the trafficking of meth ingredients across the border.
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