5 meth arrests evident of epidemic in area

Escambia County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said the sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies are working every day to combat the growing methamphetamine epidemic.

"Seems like we're making arrests every day," Lambert said. "But under the new sentencing guidelines most of these people are right back on the streets."

Lambert said deputies are not seeing many of the old meth labs since laws enacted to make it more difficult to obtain the chemicals have drastically curtailed that practice.

"What we're seeing now is Ice," Lambert said. "It's being manufactured in labs, pri...