The methamphetamine crisis 'ain't just in Kansas anymore,' said Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind. 'The whole country is screaming. The entire nation is yelling. At what point does Washington respond?'

About 90 percent of the sheriffs interviewed for a National Association of Counties survey released Tuesday reported increases in meth-related arrests in their counties over the last three years, and more than half of those interviewed said they considered meth the most serious problem their department faces.

Meth-related arrests have packed jails in the Midwest and elsewhere and swamped other county-level agencies, which face additional work, such as caring for children whose parents have become addicted and cleaning up toxic chemicals left behind by meth cookers.

"We're finding out that this is bigger problem than we thought," said Larry Naake, executive director of the association. "Folks at the state and federal level need to know about this."

Meth's Stranglehold on Resources

The report comes soon after the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy restated its stance that marijuana remains the nation's most substantial drug problem. Federal estimates show there are 15 million marijuana users compared to the 1 million who might use meth.

Dave Murray, a policy analyst for the White House, said he understood that the meth problem moving through the nation was serious and substantial. But he disagreed that it had reached the state of an epidemic.

"This thing is burning, and because it's burning, we're going to put it out," he said. "But we can't turn our back on other threats."

While most in law enforcement recognize marijuana as a problem, those costs are far outweighed by those from jailing inmates on meth charges, cleaning up makeshift labs and caring for the children left behind when addicted parents are sent to prison or treatment, said Sheriff Jon Marvel of western Indiana's Vigo County.

Marvel estimates that 80 percent of the inmates in his county's jail in Terre Haute are held on meth-related charges. He also points to an operating budget that has risen from $800,000 in 1999 to about $3.4 million last year as the best way to illustrate the stranglehold meth has on the county's resources.

"I want it stopped and I want it stopped now, and there is no way that's going to happen," Marvel said.

'At What Point Does Washington Respond?'

The regions the report cites as having the greatest increase in meth arrests over the last five years include the upper Midwest, the Southwest and Northwest.

States which reported a doubling of meth arrests over the last five years include Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. States reporting similar increases in the last three years were Georgia, Kentucky, South Dakota, Iowa and Mississippi.

Sheriff Keith Cain in Daviess County, Ky., which leads the state in meth arrests, said that meth has pulled his department away from fighting other crimes.

"The other crime not only doesn't go away, but it worsens because it's not being dealt with," Cain said.

A component of the survey examining meth's effect on children found that 40 percent of child welfare officials in 13 states where welfare is a county responsibility said they had removed more children from homes because of meth.

Members in Congress, who have heard countless stories about meth's hold on communities in their states, have become increasingly vocal about the problem and have accused the federal government of moving too slow in addressing it.

"It ain't just in Kansas anymore," said Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind. "The whole country is screaming. The entire nation is yelling. At what point does Washington respond?"