Don’t go raising the victory flag just yet. The precipitous decline in Pierce County methamphetamine labs is cause for celebration, but not an excuse to rest.

Meth addiction still ravages too many families in Pierce County – families like the Dyes, whose daughter, Rosemary, broke barriers for women as a commercial pilot but couldn’t break free of meth’s grip.

By the time her gaunt body was found by Ruston railroad tracks in May, the Stadium High School grad and former Air Force reservist had lost her job, her big house on Anderson Island and her health.

Make no mistake, meth is still a scourge – it’s just not the homegrown scourge it once was.

Fewer addicts are cooking their own meth, which is good news for the children, families and property owners who became unwitting victims of the drug’s explosive alchemy.

Once, it seemed that every other house fire was a meth lab turned Superfund site.

Now, mom and pop meth labs are relatively few and far between, leading some police agencies to disband the teams they created to fight them.

A crackdown on home labs, aided by state laws that have put the drug’s ingredients further out of reach, is putting the amateurs out of business. The Pierce County Metro Lab Team responded to 52 calls in 2007, compared to 303 in 2000.

But to a great extent, Pierce County and other communities around the United States have only outsourced their meth production. Demand for the drug remains strong, and Mexican drug cartels are only too eager to step into the breach.

Most of the meth in Pierce County now arrives in the country ready-made in a more potent form than backyard cooks can consistently produce. One Mexican crime family based in the Olympia-Lacey area was smuggling 200 pounds of crystal meth into the country every month and selling half of it locally before police busted the ring this year.

As the cartels establish trafficking routes, they create inroads for organized crime and other drugs. The Pierce County Sheriff’s office and drug addiction counselors report that cocaine use is on the rise. Addicts still can find meth, but it’s likely to be more expensive. Cocaine now provides a quick fix at a cheaper price.

More discouraging news: Heroin is also experiencing a resurgence, and prescription drug abuse is gaining in popularity.

The South Sound neighborhoods, community activists, law enforcement agencies and elected officials who helped eliminate meth labs and their toxic legacies have every right to be proud. Closing that chapter of the fight will prevent countless innocent bystanders from suffering ruined health and property.

But the challenges ahead are no less daunting.