U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and U.S. Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) headed a 14-member panel of local leaders Sunday afternoon at the Ames Police station on the rising use of methamphetamines in Iowa.

“It’s not a problem for just one group to deal with,” Boswell said. “Everyone must have a hand in it — parents, schools, law enforcement and churches. They’re our kids and our future. I’m more concerned about this than any other thing I have seen our country face.”

Boswell and Harkin both stressed a multi-pronged approach to solving the meth problem. This was reflected in the makeup of the panel, which included representatives from the Department of Public Safety, Ames Police Department, Ames Community Schools, the Story County Board of Supervisors and the Story County Sheriff’s Office.

The panel discussion began with Boswell speaking about two meth-related bills that he and Harkin co-sponsored in Washington in the last session of Congress.

The first bill moved to make it easier for schools to allow law enforcement officers to be on the premises.

“We want officers to be someone that students can see as a friend,” Boswell said. “It’s a very good mentoring situation.

“An officer knows who belongs and who doesn’t belong in a school because they have been trained to look for this without anyone even knowing they are looking,” he said.

Boswell said the bill would provide $77 million in funding for communities that want help in getting law enforcement officers inside their schools.

He said the second bill directly attacked the meth situation. It would give $40 million to educate children, parents and law enforcement officers on the dangers of meth, as well as funding research to discover why methamphetamines are so addictive.

Harkin asserted that the key to solving the meth problem across the nation and in Iowa is to focus on research and prevention. He also noted that he has never seen anything like this in his time as a lawmaker.

“The statistics on meth in this state are alarming,” Harkin said. “I really don’t have an answer as to why it’s exploded like this.”

Boswell also spoke about some of the drug problems he had personally seen in Iowa communities.

“I’m not surprised anymore when I hear things,” Boswell said. “Communities want to pretend it’s not happening and look away.”

Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said local meth activity seems to be picking up.

“There have been increased amounts of anhydrous ammonia theft at co-ops in the county,” he said.

Anhydrous ammonia is a popular ingredient in the creation of meth in labs. Fitzgerald said it has been known to fetch $100 per gallon on the black market locally.

“Stealing anhydrous is a very easy, very dangerous way to make money fast,” Fitzgerald said.

Department of Public Safety Officer Eugene Deisinger spoke about the problems meth has caused at ISU, including the recent meth lab bust in University Village.

“ISU students are by and large not big drug users, but the problem of meth is consistent,” Deisinger said. “Meth is here at ISU.”

Deisinger said Ames area businesses have been trying to keep tabs on the purchase of mass amounts of common meth lab materials such as Sudafed, lighter fluid and lithium batteries. The lab in University Village was discovered when an area business reported a large amount of lithium batteries being sold.

Deisinger said getting results back from tests performed by the Iowa Drug Task Force sometimes takes up to two months.

“That’s where we need more attention then,” Harkin said. “After a lab is closed and all the paraphernalia is secured, we need more lab technicians working on the results.”

Harkin also spoke of the great cost in cleaning up the toxic elements of a meth lab. He said even the smallest labs can cost from $5,000 to $90,000 to clean up.

Harkin said he also would support more funding for meth treatment facilities.

“You send people in for treatment, and there are not enough beds so they’re back out in a month without ever really being cured of their addiction,” he said.

Fitzgerald also discussed the adult program of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), which is in its second year of running in Story County.

Boswell said he would possibly work with Fitzgerald on that project in the future.

“Right now, parents can receive time off work with pay for family leave,” Boswell said, “and I wonder if maybe an adult version of DARE will fall under that provision.”

At the close of the discussion, Harkin reiterated the importance of fighting the growing meth problem.

“We all know that we must keep this problem from escalating. We must re-double our efforts,” Harkin said.

“Right now when a person starts a meth lab, his chances of getting caught are one in 500. I’d like to get that number down to one in two or even less,” he said. “It’s going to take some money, but I think it’s worth it.”