By Steve Morris

On Thursday, Nov. 30 local and state officials met at the Chisago County Government Center in Center City to discuss openly what many say is the leading drug problem in the country - methamphetamine.

The group came together, in part, to recognize National Methamphetamine Awareness Day.

A list of five speakers led an hour and a half candid discussion about what is being done to prevent meth from spreading and to educate local officials with up-to-date meth trends. Afterwards, time was given for questions and answers.

Among the speakers was Drug Enforcement Agent (DEA) Tom Kelly, acting superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Tim O'Malley, U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Rachel K. Paulose and a chemical dependency counselor.

According to the DEA, the state of Minnesota has been doing well in dealing with the meth epidemic compared to other states, although there is still a threat. The local DEA office seized 66 meth labs in Minnesota during the first nine months of this fiscal year.

In recent years, meth has taken off in popularity in part because it is cheap to buy and can be made with common everyday items such as cold medicine and farm fertilizer.

"We see it as one of the gravest threats as far as narcotics go," Paulose said. "It's spreading rapidly," she added.

Today, a majority of the meth is coming from Mexico where it is being produced in super labs. O'Malley estimated that more than 80 percent of the meth in the United States comes from Mexico.

Tom Kelly spoke on the need to create partnerships across all areas of government to stop the the meth epidemic from spreading further.

"There is no silver bullet to stopping meth," Kelly said.

The federal government has also taken steps to slow the drug's growth, such as passing the Combat Meth Act of 2005. The act requires that products containing pseudoephedrine be be kept behind store counters or in locked cabinets. Users cannot make meth without pseudoephedrine. The act also requires, among other mandates, that sellers of pseudoephedrine keep a log book of people who buy it.

In tandem to regulating pseudoephedrine, DEA officials are working on tracking and arresting the command and control centers of the meth business.

O'Malley summarized meth by saying, "It's the most dangerous drug you can use."

Chisago County has taken a proactive position on combating meth. Bette Friederichs, from the Public Health department said, "I think we're doing well, but we have a long ways to go."