Efforts continue in state’s meth battle

Leaders in the Legislature, Gov. Haley Barbour, the Bureau of Narcotics and child advocates are trying to do something bold to fight this state’s fastest growing illegal drug scourge — crystal methamphetamine.

The effort centers on making pseudoephedrine a prescription drug. Pseudoephedrine is a decongestant found in over-the-counter cold remedies. While many household chemicals can be used in the production of meth, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Director Marshall Fisher said the one ingredient necessary to make meth is pseudoephedrine.

Fisher said that in 2009, for the first time, meth arrests exceeded cocaine arrests.

As the effort gains steam in the Legislature, drug companies are dispatching lobbyists and pollsters and advertising agencies to derail the effort. Why?

Drug companies like selling pseudoephedrine products over the counter and they don’t want to lose sales, even when a lot of the product is used for making meth.

Meth destroys lives. A little inconvenience is worth saving lives. Ask an addict’s family.

Don’t let slick drug company lobbyists convince you otherwise.



— The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger



Brown’s election shows voter change

Maybe they weren’t paying attention. If there was a message for Mississippi lawmakers in a Republican’s recent victory in Massachusetts — Massachusetts! — it is that voters, pushed far enough, will demand elected officials put public interests above party loyalties.

A mere 14 months ago, the people of the Bay State gave Democrat Barack Obama their endorsement by a margin of more than 30 percentage points. Tuesday, the same voters elected upstart conservative Scott Brown to fill the remainder of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s term by a margin of more than 7 percentage points. A third of Massachusetts voters didn’t change ideologies. They made a plea for balanced government.

In Jackson, a partisan divide centers on — what else? — state spending for the remainder of this year.

The rules, established before Republican Gov. Haley Barbour took office, are clear. They say once the Legislature sets a spending plan, if shortfalls occur a governor can take no more than 5 percent from any allocation before cutting at least 5 percent from all.

The presumption was that no state spending plan would ever fall more than 5 percent short. But this year’s General Fund shortage could be $437 million, or about 8 percent.

Barbour’s request had been for more discretion, that he be allowed to apportion cuts of up to 10 percent before applying the across-the-board meat ax. Without that authority, he said, up to 4,000 of the nearly 30,000 people in state prisons will have to be released.

Mississippi’s House, where Democrats dominate, twice offered to meet Barbour part-way, but insists that he draw more from state reserves. Barbour’s reply is that it’s foolish to deplete the “rainy day fund” now, especially since the budget outlook for the new year starting July 1 looks even more bleak than this year and so, in turn, he announced 8.2 percent cuts across-the-board and says he will try to avoid a prisoner release using federal funds.



— The Vicksburg (Miss.) Post

While it might seem that the House position and the governor’s position, which has been endorsed by the Senate, are debatable, Mississippi voters, if they’re anything like their counterparts in Massachusetts, will note that legislators divided along party lines. That indicates this wasn’t merely an honest difference of opinion. It indicates there are House Democrats who wouldn’t mind seeing their political nemesis in the Governor’s Mansion have to explain a release of prisoners. It’s called setting up the big guy to take the fall.

Politicians persist in such gamesmanship at their peril. No one is happy that the state has less money this year than it expected. The public wants problems confronted and dealt with, period. When voters in Massachusetts — Massachusetts! — elect a Republican to the Senate, the message should be clear.



— The Vicksburg (Miss.) Post



State lottery always easy sell

When economic times get tough, taking the easy way out tempts otherwise good, right-minded people.

Facing record budget shortfalls this year and no sign of the tide coming back in soon, a few state lawmakers yet again are considering a statewide lottery.

It’s always an easy sell.

Lotteries are popular and they generate lots of cash.

Selling illegal drugs is, too.

Young men and women across our country must face the temptation of going into the criminal enterprise for easy money and a fast way to a rich lifestyle.

Parents try to teach them that taking the easy way out isn’t the answer. Money should be earned, through work, not gambling.

Like those young people, lawmakers, too, must make a serious choice.

Should Mississippi take the easy way out, get directly involved in gambling and encourage its citizens — many among the poorest in the country — to contribute their hard-earned dollars for a one-in-a-million shot a riches?

Clearly not.

Rather than getting in the business of selling hope to those near the bottom of the income scale, perhaps our state leaders should begin seriously working toward the other side of the budget crisis — cutting spending.

Those parents who encourage their children to follow the straight and narrow path have also set the lead here. They, like many of us have curbed spending when incomes dropped.

The latest lottery bill, House Bill 337, was discussed Monday, but no action was taken. The deadline for the bill to leave committee is today.

If no action is taken the bill will die, at least until the next time temptation calls.



— The Natchez (Miss.) Democrat