Dear Editor,
Methamphetamine has affected many people In many different ways.
If you are an addict, a family member of an addict, treatment provider for addicts or a law enforcement officer who is trying to eradicate the manufacture, use and distribution of this highly addictive and life-destroying substance, you are affected.
My family and I fall into the category of how a law enforcement officer and their family can be and was affected by this drug.
On Jan. 19, 2005, my husband, Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels was shot and killed while serving a warrant.
He was ambushed by a criminal who was not only high on meth, but was in the process of manufacturing it.
Matt paid the ultimate price for one criminal’s addiction.
My two children and I also paid the ultimate price,
Ironically at the very time Matt was serving the warrant, and lay shot and dying, Derek Schmidt’s bill, the Chemical Control Act was being introduced and testified to on the floor of the Kansas House.
This Bill would govern the sale of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine, which is the main ingredient in methamphetamine. The bill would require all pharmacies and stores who sold cold medications containing pseudoephedrine to secure it behind the counter, limit the number of bottles that could be purchased by an individual at one time, and keep a log of purchasers to assist law enforcement in tracking down meth manufacturers.
Matt dedicated his life to serving and protecting the people of Greenwood County. Included in this were concerted efforts by his department to curb the manufacture, use and distribution of methamphetamine.
While it was too late to save my husband and the kids’ dad, we whole-heartedly
supported the bill and its passage and, in a bitter sweet moment when Derek Schmidt’s Bill passed and became law, we were honored that the bill was named the Sheriff Matt Samuels Chemical Control Act in memory of Matt.
Because of Oerek Schmidt’s commitment and dedication to getting this bill passed, somewhere tonight a little girl is being tucked in bed by her policeman daddy and a husband will kiss his wife good night because she made it safely home from another shift.
Derek Schmidt is the kind of man we need as our next attorney general.
He will enforce the law and prosecute those who break it.
He has my full support in his endeavor to become the next attorney general for the state of Kansas. Vote Derek Schmidt on Nov. 2.
Tammy Samuels,
Eureka