Shannon Joyce Neal, Rachel Sauer and Zack Barnett.

	Judges' Comments
	"This well-conceived and structured project clearly explained the drug's impact on health care delivery, law enforcement, social services and families."
	Busted on Meth: Drug Fuels Felonies in County, All Over West

It’s easy to buy the ingredients. They may be as common as cold medicine and drain cleaner but they can turn deadly when cooked. The concoction they combined to make is called methamphetamine, as Zack Barnett wrote on the first day of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel’s five-part series, "Busted on meth."

The drug sweeping the western United States can be "smoked, snorted, injected or swallowed like a pill," Barnett wrote.

A former member of a special drug task force recalled how he had gone into "meth houses" where the faucets and door hinges were "rusted bright red" from the manufacture of the narcotic.

"If it does that to the hinges, think what it can do to your lungs," said Lt. Stan Hilkey.

In another article, Rachel Sauer focused on how the drug changed the life of a man who is serving an 84-year sentence in prison. He was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and other crimes he committed while under the influence of the narcotic.

In another installment, Lori Cumpston reported on a drug task force’s raid on the home of a methamphetamine cook.

"I requested a no-knock," said an officer. "These environments are extremely dangerous. If we’re doing a knock and announce we’re going into a meth lab, the people inside can throw chemicals on the SWAT guys or start a fire that can lead to an explosion."

Shannon Joyce Neal also wrote installments in the series. Robert Garcia’s graphic on the first day vividly described the pervasive spread of the narcotic in western states. Bob Silbernagel wrote the strong follow-up editorial.

After the Daily Sentinel’s series was published, it was reprised on at least two national news networks. Colorado’s governor pledged that combating the meth problem would be high on his lists of legislative goals.

Zack Barnett is a Grand Junction native who graduated from Pacific University in Oregon; completed a Pulliam fellowship at the Indianapolis Star; and worked for a weekly newspaper in the British Virgin Islands.

Rachel Sauer is a Brigham Young graduate who reported for the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Ark., before joining the Daily Sentinel. She won Best of Cox Feature Writing in the Community Division in 2000 and 2001.