BATTLING METH COPS MAY LOSE HELP SLASH PROPOSED IN FEDERAL FUNDS.

Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer

Despite a surge in methamphetamine arrests and addiction, local law-enforcement agencies face severe budget cuts that could result in their drug programs being dismantled, officials said.

Officials say meth use in Los Angeles now surpasses cocaine use.

An $800 million federal program, the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, provides money for local drug task forces, including COMNET and L.A. IMPACT, as well as the state's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. The federal budget for fiscal 2005-06 could cut the grant program in half or eliminate it entirely.

The grants for COMNET - Community Oriented Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement - help pay the salaries of a county prosecutor, two probation officers, a sheriff's lieutenant, a sergeant and six investigators. Since 1999, arrests by the team have resulted in 728 convictions.

``They're really an effective team,'' said Bill Ryan, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department captain who oversees the unit that received nearly $1.5 million in fiscal 2002-03.

``If we had a 50 percent (budget) cut, though, the Sheriff's Department would have to take a hard look at whether they would be able to keep the team in place.''

L.A. IMPACT - the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force - focuses on major organized narcotics rings in the Los Angeles area. The task force received $1.26 million in 2002-03.

In June, an L.A. IMPACT investigation led to a drug bust in Woodland Hills in which 550 pounds of cocaine and $1.8 million in cash were seized. L.A. IMPACT has a specialized laboratory team that serves as the county's primary agency to deal with clandestine labs for methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and designer drugs.

``It's catastrophic for L.A. IMPACT,'' the program director, William Telish, said of the proposed budget cuts. ``At a bare minimum, we'd have to reduce the amount of enforcement groups. It would cripple us.''

While narcotics officers don't focus on a particular drug, they acknowledge that methamphetamine has become one of the most prevalent, dangerous drugs on the street.

``I'd hate to be the guy to say, 'Meth is a bigger problem than heroin; meth is a bigger problem than coke,'' Telish said. ``But it's a supply-and-demand issue.

``Right now, we've got a lot of supply of meth, and there's a huge demand for it.''

Despite concerns of law-enforcement officials, the Office of National Drug Control Policy continues to focus on marijuana, not methamphetamine. It produces television commercials on the danger of marijuana, saying there are 15 million marijuana users in the nation, compared with 1 million methamphetamine users.

Cutting is proposed in the Byrne funding because the Bush administration considers local task forces ineffective, according to documentation in Bush's proposed budget.

Methamphetamine experts consider that view short-sighted.

``It's like the difference between trying to prevent the common cold versus trying to prevent cancer,'' said Richard Rawson, associate director of the Integrated Substance Abuse Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. ``The fact that a lot of people have the common cold doesn't necessarily make the problem worse than cancer.''

A bipartisan group of 103 congressman known as the Meth Caucus is fighting to restore some of the Byrne-grant funding. The president proposed to eliminate the entire $800 million for Byrne grants, saying that the crime rate is at a historic low and the grants have no demonstrable impact on crime. The House of Representatives restored about half of that money in its appropriations bill. The Senate must pass its appropriations bill.

``With meth, it's a specialized kind of work,'' said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, a member of the Meth Caucus. ``Here's a resource that local law enforcement is using for it. When it's cut in half, it makes their work less effective. A cut of 50 percent is detrimental.''

In the meantime, law enforcement officials are waiting and hoping that Congress can find them more money.

``We do have hopes that Congress makes whole the funding - or at least keeps it sustained at the level that it is now,'' said Randy Bryant, acting assistant chief of the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. ``Any further reduction beyond what has been cut will really hamper our efforts.''

Josh Kleinbaum, [phone]

josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com

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METH SCOURGE

SOURCE: UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist