Budget cuts jeopardize state anti-meth effort
Feb. 26, 2008
Missouri’s fight against drugs is focused on another battle: a fight for funding.
Missouri has had more methamphetamine lab seizures than any other U.S state for more than a decade, according to the Criminal Justice Institute.
In 2007, more than 1,200 meth labs were raided in Missouri, accounting for 20 percent of the labs raided nationwide.
A major source of funding for Missouri’s anti-meth program is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. Missouri receives $9 million from the program, with about $6.3 million being allocated to state law enforcement and $2.7 million to city and county police departments.
Last year, President George Bush attempted to end the program as a part of his budget cuts.
“We need that $9 million,” said Sgt. Scott Young, of the Columbia Police Department Narcotics Unit. “We need that and we need even more money if we’re going to put up any kind of a fight.
Under Bush’s 2009 budget proposal, the Byrne program would receive an extra $30 million, bringing its total budget to $200 million. This amount is $700 million less than what the program was funded six years ago.
“Missouri has the highest amount of meth dealing in the country by a huge margin,” Young said. “We obviously need more funding than what we’re currently receiving if we even want to being to put a dent in that.”
In Missouri, about 500 agents are paid by the federal grants. Young said over half of them could be let go if there are more budget cuts.
Missouri police raided a total of 1,285 meth labs in 2007, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. The state with the second most meth lab seizures was Indiana with less than half of the amount of seizures in Missouri.
U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., is part of the bipartisan effort to reinstate funding to the Byrne program. He said in an e-mail that the program is receiving about one third of the funding it needs to combat drugs.
Byrne program spokeswoman Eileen M. Garry said if the program’s funding were cut, there would be a spike in narcotics-related crime nationwide.
“It would hit Missouri hard, I think, if the state wasn’t receiving funding from the program,” Garry said. “Missouri is struggling as it is to keep meth and other narcotic abuse in check.”
The Edward Byrne fund is named after Eddie Byrne, a New York City police officer who was killed while on duty by two hit men hired by a drug lord.
His death inspired an anti-drug campaign in New York that led to the creation of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.
The program’s objective is to provide states with funds to pay for additional personnel, equipment, training and technology for criminal justice, Garry said.
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