Chairman Souder, Ranking Member Cummings, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss efforts to reduce the problem of methamphetamine in America. The issue is one with which I am well acquainted. Prior to being nominated and confirmed in my present position, I worked as an elected prosecutor in a rural county, where methamphetamine use, sales, and production were a problem. Prosecutors and police in areas where methamphetamine is a problem know too well the toll that methamphetamine production and use take on both individuals and their community. In short, the consequences to individual health and the associated criminal activity as well as the environmental and economic harm, can be devastating.
Fortunately, there is good news. We have recently seen some encouraging results from new methods of attacking the methamphetamine trade. And the Administration's newly released "National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan," which I will discuss here in more detail, is a comprehensive approach designed to weaken the supply of, and the demand for, methamphetamine in the United States. In my testimony today, I will highlight relevant parts of the action plan, and outline the tasks that we intend to accomplish over the next four years to continue to reduce the methamphetamine problem in America.
