Law-enforcement officials in the Midwest say that funding for anti-methamphetamine task forces is drying up just as they are making progress against dealers and traffickers, and warn of a coming increase in use of the drug as a result, the Chicago Tribune reported March 3.

The Bush administration's FY2009 budget for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which funds many antidrug task forces, was slashed by $170 million. "It couldn't come at a worse time," said Terry Lemming, drug-enforcement coordinator for the Illinois State Police. "After all the success we've started to have, this could set the Midwest back a good 20 years in our fight against this drug." Similar laments were heard from police in Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Some members of Congress have pledged to restore the funding, but that's by no means certain. State officials said that they will try to find state funds to make up for the shortfall -- also a difficult proposition in the current economy.

Iowa officials say that the cuts would drain three-quarters of their drug-enforcement budget, while Illinois officials said half of the state's anti-meth task forces would be eliminated. "If we cannot at least keep the current level of federal funding, we will have to dissolve 12 of our 23 task forces," Lemming said.  "The people of Illinois will see a dramatic change in violence and drug use as a result."

"I don't think anyone is yet fully appreciating what this is going to mean for the rates of people getting addicted to this drug as well as to overall public safety," said Gary Kendall, director of the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy.

"The Midwest will see more and more addicts, more and more children in foster care, and the prisons will be full to the point that they are bursting" if the Byrne funding is cut, predicted Liz Rehmer, a Missouri women whose son is now in prison for meth-related crimes.  "Crime will go up. The number of addicts will be shocking.  It won't even take five years for it to be a full-blown epidemic."