Pubdate: Mon, 09 Jul 2001 Source: Tribune Review (PA) Copyright: 2001 Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Contact: http://triblive.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/460 Author: Mike Seate CRANK TURNING UP AT CITY BARS Tolerating sales pitches from drug dealers is just one of the byproducts of spending too much time in bars. Typical of any unplanned shopping trip, these guys never seem to sell what you need: Tylenol PM would be nice, or maybe a strong, 12-hour antacid in tablet form. Instead, at least once a week, some furtive-looking soul shoulders up and mutters a coded sales pitch for a cheap high. Most recently, the usual pitches "Yo, got that good herb" (for pot) and "white lady in the house" (cocaine) have been replaced by offers to "go tweakin'." To most Pittsburghers, going tweakin' sounds like taking a ride in a car that needs its brakes fixed. In reality, tweak, or crank, is one of the country's most notorious street drugs. Known formally as crystal methamphetamine, the dull, yellow powder is said to pack the kick of 40 cups of coffee, along with a wicked, nervous buzz. Cheap enough that a $20 bag can keep a tweaker high for a whole night, crank has been followed by crime and violence more faithfully than a drug-sniffing police dog, in cities including Phoenix and San Diego. Because Pittsburgh is a city notoriously late to pick up on new fashion trends, it only figures that crank has taken years to reach our streets. But even if it gets here five years after its peak elsewhere, that's too soon for city narcotics Sgt. John Fisher. While working as a narcotics detective on hundreds of arrests, Fisher watched crack cocaine destroy neighborhoods from Garfield to Arlington. Crystal meth, he said, has been known to string out its users just as badly, and for even less money. Fortunately, Fisher said a few isolated offers from freelance dope salesmen do not an epidemic make: "We've seen very few instances of crystal methamphetamine in our area, and thank God for that," he said. Though largely considered a drug of the American Southwest, crank has made a showing recently in Philadelphia and other Eastern cities, Fisher said. Manufactured in homemade labs and garages from ordinary chemicals found in pharmacies and hardware stores, crystal methamphetamine is not only dangerous for its effect on users. Combining the drug's base chemicals in makeshift labs often creates explosive gases, Fisher said. "It's so toxic, if we found a meth lab, we'd have to call in the hazardous materials crews to inspect the place," he said. Of course, its lethal toxicity is part of what makes crank so attractive. A similar fatal attraction exists with local drug customers who favor what Fisher calls "traditional narcotics" like heroin, prescription pills and marijuana. When a potent new Mexican heroin started showing up on our streets last year in a form that was strong enough to cause overdoses, Fisher said heroin users were frantic to get their hands on a batch of the potentially-lethal dope. "They knew the stuff that could kill you was good," he said dryly. In Fisher's estimation, there's no need to assume that crank has taken up permanent residence in our city, though police have been holding their breath to see if it arrives. The drugs being offered around town might well be bogus imitations of the real thing. Or they could be leftovers from a crankhead who brought back more meth than he bargained for from his summer vacation. If not, let's just hope that if crank calls, nobody will be home. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe