Kansas City, Mo. ? The war on methamphetamines might be making a dent in the drug problem, but so far, not a very big one.

The number of local meth cases in federal court at Kansas City is rising at a slow but steady pace, highlighting the difficulties of battling a highly addictive drug that is relatively easy to make.

The meth situation might not be as dire as it was in the past, officials said, but it’s still not showing any signs of going away.

“Five, 10 years ago, we were having trouble even getting our arms around it, it was growing so fast,” said Todd Graves, U.S. attorney for the western district of Missouri. “Now, we’ve got our arms around it, but haven’t wrestled it to the ground yet.”

Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant made in part from common household cleansers and cold medicines. Making meth produces strong, toxic fumes, and its use often causes violent, unpredictable behavior.

It’s a problem that took root in the West and Southwest in the 1970s and 1980s, then migrated into the Midwest. In the 1990s, the federal government created “high-intensity drug trafficking areas” across the country, where millions of dollars were pumped into hiring officers to combat the problem.

Those efforts slowed growth in some areas, but meth makers have been harder to identify and catch in the Midwest.

Missouri ranks highest among central states in the number of meth-related seizures. Last year, 1,717 labs, dump sites and paraphernalia were seized in Missouri, compared with 346 in Nebraska, 718 in Iowa and 487 in Illinois.

In Kansas, which reported 728 such seizures last year, there is a hint of promising news. The 2002 number is 118 seizures less than what was reported a year earlier. And so far this year, there have been only 290 labs seized in the state.

“We’re hoping we’ve turned the corner,” said Kyle Smith, spokesman for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Smith said he’s afraid the numbers could jump in the next few years because of a new law that allows some low-level drug offenders to seek treatment rather than spend time in the state’s overcrowded prisons.

“It reduces penalties for methamphetamine possession and is going to result in more methamphetamine addicts out on the streets,” Smith said.

He also said statistics this year could be skewed because some of the state’s law enforcement agencies have cut the number of officers who sought out meth labs. Other agencies have not completed paperwork necessary to be included in the state’s official statistics, he said.

Federal authorities said the meth problem continues in the Midwest because of production techniques that use fertilizer — a common element found on most farms.

Meth producers in Missouri often use a simple formula that includes anhydrous ammonia, said Shirley A. Armstead, a St. Louis area spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“You don’t need a lot of precursor ingredients to make the drug, so it’s very easy to make,” she said.

Graves said the problem is especially rampant in rural areas, both because of geographic isolation and limited resources.

“When you get out into rural areas, it sometimes is easier to conceal what you’re doing, and sometimes the enforcement power is not there compared to rural areas,” he said.