GLASGOW — Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton says law enforcement “would be lost” in the war on drugs if it weren’t for federal help, funding assistance opposed by Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul.

Eaton, a Democrat, said that’s a key reason he’s endorsing Paul’s Democratic opponent, Attorney General Jack Conway, whom Eaton said he’s known for 10 years. Conway’s campaign arranged a teleconference with reporters for Eaton on Tuesday.

“It’s not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue,” said Eaton. “It’s an issue for everyone. Drugs have affected nearly every family in Kentucky.”

Paul recently told the Associated Press he didn’t think the drug problem was “a real pressing issue” in the Senate race, though he has since disputed AP’s report. But a tape provided by the AP reporter supports his story. The statement appears to have hurt Paul in eastern Kentucky where prescription drug abuse is rampant, and Eaton said Tuesday it’s not doing him any good in western Kentucky where the problem tends to be methamphetamine.

Paul’s campaign issued a press release this week contending the number of meth labs have increased since Conway became attorney general, but Eaton said that’s not Conway’s doing.

“This isn’t Jack Conway’s fault, it’s not the president’s fault, it’s not Chris Eaton’s fault,” he said. He agrees meth labs are again on the rise after a decline following a law which tracked and limited purchase of such necessary ingredients as suphedrine.

The problem, Eaton said, is that many meth manufacturers who were convicted five and six years ago have now been released from jail and are back on the street, and “unfortunately, they’re back to their old ways.”

Eaton praised Republican Congressmen Ed Whitfield, Ky-1, and Hal Rogers, Ky-5, for efforts to secure federal funding to help in the war on drugs. Without federal help, Eaton said, drug traffickers would have “a green light” to do business.

Rogers helped start Operation UNITE, a drug interdiction, treatment and enforcement agency in southeastern Kentucky. Paul has consistently criticized federal earmarks, even those which have been secured by Republicans and which have benefited Kentucky. He says such funding may be justified, but it should go through the regular budget debate rather than being inserted in bills by powerful congressmen.

Eaton is a longtime supporter of Conway, having endorsed him in the Senate primary and before that in 2007 when Conway ran for attorney general, Eaton appeared in a Conway commercial in 2007.

But Eaton said he’ll support anyone, regardless of party, who supports the effort to rein in the drug problem in Kentucky. He endorsed Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell in his 2008 race against Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford and said McConnell secured a $234,000 grant for the Barren County Sheriff’s Department through the federal budget.

“Drugs are not a partisan issue,” Eaton said. “I’m a Democrat but I’m elected by everyone.”

For him, it’s a personal issue.

In April of this year, Eaton was hospitalized after he accidently inhaled fumes when he and deputies discovered a meth lab. At one point Eaton lost sensation in his legs and all sense of taste. He is still under medical treatment for the lingering effects of the exposure, some of which may be permanent.

On top of that, Eaton and his wife, Sheila, who have three children of their own, are raising a nephew and niece whose parent’s lives were disrupted by drugs.

Eaton said he’s offended a candidate for the U.S. Senate doesn’t think drugs are a pressing issue in Kentucky or that local communities should fund drug interdiction efforts by themselves.

He said without federal funding for the Regional Drug Task Force which operates in Barren and Edmonson counties, he simply wouldn’t have the manpower to investigate and pursue drug offenders.

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.