Washington DC -  A sense of security, friendly faces, the sharing of the lands and forests that surround us.  The Southern Missouri I know is a place where the quality of life is only surpassed by the quality of the people.  But all of these characteristics of our communities seem to be fading.

 

The rural way of life we prize has a persistent enemy we know all too well.  Meth is corroding our core values and threatening the future of our youth. 

 

We feel less safe in our homes.  We cannot trust the visitors to our communities.  A truck or van parked on our public lands arouses suspicions.  And all this pales in comparison to the damage meth is doing to the lives of the men and women who are hopelessly addicted to its deadly mix of chemicals. 

 

Simply put, meth kills.  The drug stimulates the central nervous system, producing excess levels of neurotoxins the brain cannot handle.  As a health concern, meth eliminates brain functions and leads to psychosis and, in some cases, deadly strokes.  Other long-term effects of meth use include respiratory problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme anorexia, tooth decay and loss, and cardiovascular collapse and death. 

As an environmental hazard, the byproducts of meth labs contaminate their surroundings with harmful fumes and highly explosive chemical compounds.  Abandoned meth labs are basically time bombs – waiting for the single spark that can ignite the contents of the lab.  In the hands of the untrained chemists simultaneously using meth and working with the flammable chemical components, a working meth lab is just as unsafe.

 

As a public expense, the cost of finding and then cleaning up meth labs is enormous.  Meth producers flood our courts and our jails.  Meth users commit other crimes to continue their habits.  Local police and hospitals alone cannot keep up with the thefts, assaults, and health concerns that flare up when meth use increases in a town.

All this without even considering how our pride in our communities is hurt when meth and the problems it causes come to our counties.  Meth is nothing less than a plague on rural America.

 

But here in Southern Missouri we are fighting meth’s assault on our way of life.

The Missouri Forest Service uses search dogs to patrol our public lands.  They rehabilitate sites where meth has been produced and harmful chemicals have been used.  This week, I will be meeting with the director of the enforcement bureau at the Missouri Forest Service to learn even more about how we can fight meth and its affect on our communities.

 

State and local task forces and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency are all cooperating to fight meth in Southern Missouri.  As the meth problem has grown, I have requested and Congress has funded, the operations of the Bootheel Drug Task Force, the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, and South Central Missouri Drug Task Force.  Together, these task forces have infiltrated and stopped gangs that produce, use, and sell meth in Missouri.

 

With millions of dollars spent in the Eighth District each year, the combined efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement have curbed the meth problem, but tax dollars alone will not end the scourge of meth.

 

The important balance of the task falls to us, the active citizens in our communities.  It is up to us to keep a watchful eye on our surroundings.  We have a duty to our neighbors to protect their homes as well as our own.  We can intervene when family members and loved ones struggle with drug abuse.

 

In Missouri, to anonymously report criminal activity pertaining to meth, please call the Toll Free Meth Hotline at 1-800-823-6384.

 

We may no longer be able to leave our doors unlocked at night, but the communities we are saving are our own.  Our vigilance against meth will preserve Southern Missouri and the way of life we love.