The Republican candidate for attorney general, Mark Bredemeier, stood in front of the Common Pleas Courthouse Thursday and unveiled his plan to combat the methamphetamine problem in Missouri.

"Methamphetamine use and the production is a serious national problem that has invaded Missouri," said Bredemeier. "Its addiction has reached epidemic proportions in California and as nearby as Iowa. Missouri's problem has not yet escalated to those levels."

He said the attorney general must work in conjunction with law enforcement officials to stem the tide of use, production and addiction before it overwhelms the state's ability to fight the problem.

"When campaigning in Southeast Missouri, I heard repeated anecdotal reports from people that the methamphetamine problem is growing rapidly and uncontrollably," he said.

The stories prompted him to undertake a serious study of the methamphetamine crises.

Bredemeier said as attorney general he will implement new ways to combat the spread of methamphetamine and pledged to designate an assistant to coordinate the information gathering, investigations and prosecutions. He said he will cooperate fully with and support local prosecutors, local law enforcement and federal law enforcement.

He will also aggressively pursue opportunities to coordinate prosecutions with other attorneys general to fight the problem on an interstate level.

"Existing resources in the attorney general's office can be reallocated to execute this plan without adding any additional staff," he said. "Since (incumbent) Jay Nixon has more than doubled the size of the attorney general's office, we should be putting those people to work on one of the greatest new threats to our safety and well-being."