OLYMPIA — Snohomish County lawmakers continue pressing for state funds to fight the spread of methamphetamine, but time is running out on their efforts.
State legislators began the session in January seeking $3 million to be split between Snohomish and Pierce counties for their meth-fighting strategies.
As of April 13, the House of Representatives had included only $1 million in its proposed budget, while Gov. Christine Gregoire and Senate Democrats had earmarked no money at all in their respective spending plans.
Budget negotiations will determine if any funds are sent to the two counties. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn Sunday, April 24.
“We had zero dollars,” Rep. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, a former Washington State Patrol trooper, said of the $1 million appropriated by the House. “I think the money will survive. I’m trying to get the amount higher.”
Last year, the state Department of Ecology reported cleaning up 1,337 methamphetamine labs, including 542 in Pierce County and 101 in Snohomish County. Snohomish County would like to funnel some money into a new anti-meth team in its sheriff’s office.
“We will work with whatever we can get,” Sheriff Rick Bart said. “Methamphetamine is just as important an issue as transportation and all the other issues that they are working on down there. It is a problem that has really saturated our community.”
He and Cmdr. Patric Slack of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force cautioned that simply having more dollars won’t solve the problem. If Snohomish County is successful in fighting meth, the effect may be to drive meth cookers into other counties that are unable to step up enforcement.
That’s why Bart and Slack want lawmakers to act this session to impose uniform regulations on the sale of over-the-counter medications that contain ingredients such as pseudoephedrine used by meth cooks to make the drug.
“It’s a situation where we need a statewide strategy,” he said. “We need the state and the 39 counties to decide what the problems are and how to address them.”
Jerry Cornfield is a reporter with The Herald in Everett.
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