By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – Federal and local officials want to halt the spread of Crystal Meth before it becomes the drug of choice for Western New Yorkers.
You may have heard it called Meth, or Crank or Ice. But whatever it's called - it's bad news.
Meth is already at epidemic proportions out West. And U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said the drug could quickly take root here because it's easy and cheap to make and sell.
Major seizures of Meth materials and a Meth Lab have already been uncovered in the area.
Local law enforcement officials said they underestimated the Crack Cocaine problem in the 1980's. Schumer said they can't allow that to happen with Meth.
"Now a lot of kids are beginning to hear about Meth - far more deadly, even worse than Crack," said Schumer. "And we want to make sure that they don't use it and we stop production of it before it grows into a major problem."
Schumer sayid that means a comprehensive approach. He proposes an educational campaign, federal funding for treatment and enforcement, and closing loopholes that make it harder to buy the common ingredients used to make the drug.
Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark said virtually anybody can manufacture Meth.
"That's part of the problem...because it's easy to make, it's relatively cheap and the materials are readily available, almost any profile would be different in a dozen different cases," said Clark. "So, I think that's one of the reasons why action now is so important, because if we just sit on our hands and wait until we can profile these things, it's going to already be too late for us."
Schumer's proposal would make it illegal to purchase large quantities of any cold product or over the counter product that contain pseudephedrine - a main ingredient in Meth.
The funding requests and legislative actions still need Congressional approval. If passed, Schumer says Buffalo would be a good candidate to receive some of the millions earmarked to head off a Meth epidemic.