Attorney general, FBI warn meth threat now rivals opioids

MADISON — Methamphetamine use has quietly surged in Wisconsin and now rivals opioid abuse as the state's most serious drug problem, Attorney General Brad Schimel and FBI agents warned the Legislature's criminal justice committees Thursday.

Schimel and Justin Tolomeo, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Milwaukee office, pointed the committees during a hearing to a November law enforcement report that concluded meth use in Wisconsin grew between 250 percent and 300 percent from 2011 to 2015. The state crime lab saw a 349 percent increase in meth cases during that span; heroin cases the lab analyzed rose by 97 percent over that same period, the report found.

"While public safety officials, health care personnel, and policy makers have been courageously battling opiate addiction, it's time we begin fighting on a second front: methamphetamine use," Schimel told the committees.

The report found rural areas, particularly northwestern Wisconsin, are seeing the most meth use. Barron County saw a 193 percent increase in meth-related arrests during that span; the city of Prairie du Chien saw a 700 percent increase, according to the findings.

Tolomeo said state laws limiting access to prescription drugs such as pseudoephedrine used to manufacture meth have driven down the number of home labs. But Mexican drug cartels have been flooding the state with methamphetamine, relying on Minneapolis-based gangs as distributors. He noted that heroin users are beginning to turn to meth out of fear of overdoses and a desire to "level out" their highs. Meth is a stimulant; heroin is a depressant.

Schimel told reporters after the hearing people can become addicted to meth after just one use and many meth distributors have taken to offering free samples to create customers.

The attorney general told the committees that he plans to use money the state Justice Department has won in legal settlements to launch a meth awareness campaign similar to his "Dose of Reality" opioid awareness effort. He added that the state Department of Justice has secured a $1.5 million federal grant that he plans to use to help fund local drug task forces, reimburse sheriff's departments for overtime and hire another state crime lab analyst.

The hearing was meant to inform the committees about the issue and the panels didn't take any action. Republican Rep. John Spiros of Marshfield, who chairs the Assembly criminal justice committee, told Schimel and Tolomeo that everyone's focused on fighting opioids and he had no idea meth had become such a problem.

Members of both committees pressed Schimel for solutions. Democratic Rep. Evan Goyke of Milwaukee asked if lawmakers should consider harsher penalties for possessing meth; Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Racine Republican who chairs the Senate committee, asked whether providing more money for the DARE program so officers can educate kids about the dangers of meth in schools.

Schimel responded that he supports DARE but tight budgets have forced many local police agencies to drop the program. As for tougher criminal penalties, he said meth addicts don't think rationally and tougher sentences won't deter them from using the drug. The best path is educating people about the drug, he said.

"As we've seen, we've found ways to control the supply of ingredients to make methamphetamine," he said. "The source simply shifted to Mexican cartels. When we arrest a trafficker, there's so much money (at stake) that someone else just slides in. We will not win this battle unless we address the demand side."