What happens when you've done all you can do in Nevada to put the brakes on one of the nation's worst meth problems, and yet the problem rages on?
Well, maybe you go to Mexico.
That's what Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is doing along with seven other western attorneys general this week. They'll meet with Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora to talk about how to stop meth trafficking from Mexico to the U.S., as well as other issues.
The reason that makes such good sense is most of the meth consumed here is produced there. Efforts to stop the flow haven't been successful enough. After all, if we can't stop the flow of illegal aliens, then how can we expect to stop the meth? Further, how can the U.S. expect to be successful in stopping the flow of pseudoephedrine - a key meth ingredient - to Mexico?
Realistically, Masto's efforts aren't likely to produce any immediate results, unless she plans to position her office staff at the border with drug dogs. But we give her credit for focusing on the right issue - and she ought to know after having led the governor's meth task force recently. Long-term, if Mexico can be urged to crack down on meth production, there could be a light at the end of the dark tunnel that has entrapped so many Nevadans.
It would be unfair to say no progress has been made. In Carson City and Nevada, as a whole, the strategy for fighting meth will help many people. More money has been allocated for law enforcement and for treatment.
But the ultimate solution to the problem isn't in Nevada. It's in Mexico.