More than 700 participants from all 15 Arizona counties came together Feb. 13-14 in Phoenix for the largest statewide meeting ever to address a crime problem.

Gov. Janet Napolitano and I hosted the Arizona Methamphetamine Conference: A Call to Action. The program tackled all aspects of the meth problem with one overriding objective - stop the meth epidemic plaguing Arizona. The multi-disciplinary conference brought together experts from many fields, policy makers and citizens who shared their experiences in this fight.

A week before the conference, Rep. Tom O'Halleran, R-Sedona, introduced a comprehensive meth proposal, House Bill 2815, and gathered more than 40 co-sponsors to this legislation. This bill would limit the sale of all pseudoephedrine products, the key ingredient in the production of meth, to nine grams in a 30-day period, unless the customer has a prescription. The bill was passed out of committee on Feb. 15. The proposal is modeled after the successful law passed in Oklahoma, which has reduced meth labs in that state by more than 80 percent. More than a dozen other states enacted similar legislation last year.

As I said at the conference, controlling pseudoephedrine alone won't solve the meth problem, but without doing so we never will be able to stop this scourge.

We heard from several national experts at the conference, including:

• Dr. John Martyny of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center. Dr. Martyny's research has resulted in better protective gear for law enforcement and firefighters, better decontamination methods for children exposed to meth and better medical treatment to reduce serious health effects suffered by children who have lived in meth lab homes.
• Dr. Jerry Moe of the Betty Ford Center. Dr. Moe helped us better understand the needs of children in families with substance abuse issues. Children of meth users are three times more likely to be physically and/or sexually abused and four times more likely to be neglected. He also helped us learn how meth treatment can work.
• Dr. H. Westley Clark, Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Clark provided a national perspective on drug treatment, including promising approaches to combat meth addiction.

Arizona's success in the fight against meth depends on the collective efforts of everyone - elected officials, social services, law enforcement, health professionals, tribal officials, grass roots organizations, neighborhood activists, clergy, parents and teachers. The Governor and I called everyone together to build consensus for a plan of action. We have joined forces to make sure the plan is comprehensive to effectively address prevention, enforcement and treatment. Working together, we can bring this drug crisis under control.

Terry Goddard