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for transporting meth from Southwest Virginia.
Of the 26 task forces in the state, the two between Winchester and Harrisonburg were responsible for more than 90 percent of the meth seizures since 1998, Sheriff Carter said.
In recent years, Southwest Virginia has been a hot spot for cooking and distributing meth, but statistics in the past two years show meth labs spreading north. Sheriff Carter has talked with Obenshain on occasion in the past year about how to attack the problem.
Obenshain is targeting the state’s battle with methamphetamine manufacturing in this year’s General Assembly. Of the four Senate bills aimed at fighting meth production, he has sponsored two.
Obenshain said he sees a window of opportunity and. wants to take advantage of it.
“We have the unique opportunity to do something about this problem now before it becomes a pervasive statewide issue,” Obenshain said. “Otherwise we’re going to wait, and we’ll have 1,300 meth labs getting busted a year, and we’ll be trying to close the bam door after the horses have already gotten out.”
One of the senator’s ideas was to go after the ingredients used to make meth, some of which can be picked up at a neighborhood drug store (such as pseudoephedrine pills like Sudafed).
When somebody buys large quantities of Sudafed, it should raise a red flag, Obenshain said.
“You don’t have meth users
93.8%