"People, we've got a monster here. It's a monster. It's killing our kids. It's killing our community. It's pornography. Disgusting dirt. Filth is what it is. This is the truth: Meth is a lie."

-- Former meth user Bert Bell

Methamphetamine affects the entire community, not just law enforcement and the people who use the drug, panelists at a methamphetamine forum said Monday night.

More than 200 people turned out for the "Life or Meth" forum at Dempster Hall on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

The Southeast Missourian sponsored the forum.

Meth use and manufacture are widespread in Southeast Missouri and throughout the state, panelists said.

"Everybody here needs to take an active role in combating the problem," said Sgt. Kevin Glaser, coordinator of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement group that investigates methamphetamine production and distribution.

Panelists included Glaser, Cape Girardeau Police Chief Rick Hetzel, SEMO Regional Crime Lab director Dr. Robert Briner, Sheriff John Jordan, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle, Police Cpl. Keith May of the Cape Girardeau Police Department and former meth user Dewayne Kluesner.

Meth's addictive nature and the easy accessibility of its precursors make stopping the drug a difficult task, law enforcement officials said.

Methamphetamine is an extremely addictive drug that ruins lives, Kluesner, 31, said. He was given a choice between prison and treatment and chose treatment after being convicted on methamphetamine charges.

The audience heard from another man who lived to warn about the dangers of using meth.

"People, we've got a monster here," said Bert Bell, who was addicted to meth for eight years. "It's a monster. Whatever you do, listen to these guys. It's killing our kids. It's killing our community. It's pornography. Disgusting dirt. Filth is what it is. This is the truth: Meth is a lie."

Southeast Missouri and the Kansas City metro area are the two "hot spots" for meth production and trafficking, Glaser said.

In 1997, 71 meth labs were busted in Southeast Missouri alone, he said.

"So far this year, from January to the end of June, we're right at 70 labs," he said. "The other thing that we're seeing is it's rapidly spreading all over the state."

Methamphetamine is dangerous for everyone, panelists said. Most of the ingredients used in its manufacture are hazardous to the drug makers and to residents in the surrounding area, and methamphetamine is extremely toxic to users.

Glaser estimated there have been six to eight methamphetamine-related deaths in the region in the past 18 months.

Briner pointed to the increasing number of burn victims being treated at emergency rooms in the region because of meth lab accidents.

The state has enacted harsher penalties for those convicted of distributing and manufacturing methamphetamine, Swingle pointed out.

Manufacturing meth used to be a Class B felony, with sentencing ranging from five to 15 years.

Under a new law that went into effect last week, manufacturing or distributing more than 90 grams of methamphetamine is a Class A felony, with sentences that can run from 10 to 30 years.

Another segment of the new meth sentencing law -- considered the toughest in the nation -- sets up special drug courts to deal with offenders, Swingle said.

If offenders complete the required treatment program, they often end up with no criminal record, Swingle said.

Drug courts for adult offenders are operating in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, he said, and organizers boast a success rate of more than 90 percent.

"We've decided in Cape Girardeau to wait and see how those statistics hold up," Swingle said. "If it does work in other places, that might be something we want to try here."

In many cases, meth users are sent through treatment programs on court orders and placed on probation.

It's not uncommon for those users to go right back to the drug after treatment is finished, he said.

"We see a lot of them that treatment doesn't work on," Swingle said, and "they end up getting their probation revoked."

"From our standpoint, we end up seeing the same individuals over and over again," Glaser said, adding that his officers have probably made multiple arrests on a dozen or so offenders who use and cook meth.

"Every time we arrest them they get a little bit smarter," he said. "They learn how we operate and we learn how they operate and we have to try to predict what they're going to do next. There's a lot of repeat offenders out there."

It's important prosecutors and judges learn about methamphetamine and its manufacture, Swingle said.

In many cases, a judge might not recognize the significance of someone being arrested in possession of the ingredients needed to manufacture meth, he said.

Jordan said the public bears some responsibility in the spread of methamphetamine.

"Folks, we've allowed it to become socially acceptable to deal drugs," Jordan said. "It's not socially acceptable to murder people, but over a period of time, our society has said it's all right to use and deal drugs."

Citizens wouldn't put up with a child molester running loose in the neighborhood, and they shouldn't tolerate drug dealers, he said.

"The villain is out there," Jordan said. "The villain is drugs, drug dealers. He's not trying to sell drugs to me. He's trying to sell drugs to our children."

Drug dealers "care about profit," he said. "We need to answer that and not allow it to be socially acceptable to deal drugs."