Monday, May 12, 2008 4:57 AM CDT
Federal funding to fight drugs in rural areas may end

CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) — Federal money that funds the operation of dozens of county and regional drug task forces around the state is drying up causing many of the agencies to fold or drastically cut back operations.

About 20 rural drug task forces in the state are seeing federal funding evaporate and officials are warning it will seriously hamper drug enforcement.

Ten counties have shut down their task forces, the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy said. On July 1 funding for many of the remaining groups will be cut drastically unless a grant program is restored in federal legislation.

The loss of that money would reduce the number of officers in most of Iowa’s drug task forces to the point where their work couldn’t be done properly, said Ardyth Orr, commander of the Muscatine County Drug Task Force.

“Those types of cases can’t be done unless you have a team of people doing surveillance and collecting intelligence,â€