Speech
METH Summit
Remarks of Governor Judy Martz
Billings
6/2/2004
Welcome to the Governor’s Summit on battling methamphetamine in Montana.
It’s great to see so many people here from so many different organizations. In addition to our law enforcement and prison folks, we have educators, health care professionals, community leaders and a wide range of groups and organizations determined to get a handle on this serious problem, not only in Montana, but all across the united states.
I want to commend Attorney General, Mike McGrath, Corrections Director, Bill Slaughter, and all of you who have been doing your part to solve this epidemic.
As many of you know, Mike and I created a Substance Abuse Policy Task Force a couple of years ago.
The group was headed by Senator Duane Grimes who did an excellent job and they presented some excellent legislation to the 2003 legislature. But, over the past year, it seems you cannot pick up a newspaper without reading a story or stories about a METH bust, or another person sentenced to time in jail for METH, and very simply, more and more people are talking about the problem and the need to do something about it.
With that as background, last winter I asked my Health Policy Advisor, Jean Branscum to speak with various groups and individuals who have been working on this issue, and see if they agreed that we should try and get as many people as possible who are working in their own ways on the problem and see how we could best work together on a unified approach to battling METH in Montana.
It is my hope that we can come up with a statewide plan for dealing with METH use, the crimes that result and all the social problems that arrive from METH addiction. I can’t say enough about all of the good efforts that are on-going around the state to crack down on METH, but I felt we needed to get all the key players in the same place at the same time and identify a statewide policy on combating METH.
We must win this fight against METH. It is a threat to our future and our way of life. The emotional and financial costs are far too high a price to pay. You all know what I am talking about, families are paying a price when a parent is addicted, and the children of METH users suffer badly.
Our jails are full of METH addicts, METH labs are all over the place and we are all being forced to pick up the tab.
To say the least, METH harms family life, the economy, the environment and our public safety. That’s why we are here, because no community is immune and we all want to put a stop to this problem that has become a big drain on society.
Let me cite a few statistics: l0 years ago Montana, 15 percent of the people treated in state-approved community chemical dependency programs were addicted to METH; by 2001 that number had increased to 26 percent.
And the number of METH labs busted jumped from l6 in l999 to 122 in 2002. Our law enforcement folks are doing a great job, but they can’t do it alone. That’s why this Governor’s Summit is so critical.
Thanks so much for being here.
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