If the Bush budget is implemented, spending for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program would drop from $226 million to $100 million, while a $634-million program for state and local police departments will be lost completely. Many of these funds were used to sponsor meth-control task forces and expensive cleanup operations.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, 16,000 meth labs were seized in 2004, up from a mere 912 in 1995. "It's the worst drug problem I've ever seen," said Lt. Steve Dalton, an anti-meth task force supervisor in southwest Missouri. "Without the grants, we could last for about a year before we'd have to shut our doors."

Although the President plans to spend two percent more in 2006 for anti-drug programs than 2005, those additional funds will be directed toward curtailing incoming drug shipments rather than cleanup and containment of existing problems.