Pubdate: Wed, 02 Oct 2002 Source: Waukesha Freeman (WI) Copyright: 2002 The Waukesha Freeman Contact: (262) 542-8259 Website: http://www.freemanol.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/770 ENFORCEMENT NEEDED TO CHECK SPREAD OF METH LABS WAUKESHA - Methamphetamine labs are sprouting rapidly in Wisconsin, and the nation's drug enforcement director says serious efforts are needed to check the spread of the cheap and highly addictive drug. Last year, law enforcement officials shut down 44 methamphetamine labs in Wisconsin, a huge jump from the one lab that was closed in 1997, Asa Hutchinson, director of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, said at a conference here Tuesday. About 50 labs have already been busted this year in Wisconsin. Surrounding states closed between 500 and 2,200 labs last year. That shows that the drug could grow in popularity here, Hutchinson told police, prosecutors and medical professionals at the conference on methamphetamine and club drugs such as Ecstasy. "It's moved from the West Coast eastward," he said at a news conference after his speech at Waukesha County Technical College. "It has not totally invaded Wisconsin yet." Wisconsin started seeing methamphetamine, which is made with farm chemicals that are easy to find in rural areas, in its northwestern counties in 1997 and 1998. Wisconsin has placed more drug enforcement agents in northwestern Wisconsin, which slowed the spread of meth labs, said State Division of Narcotics Administrator Johnnie Smith. Tuesday's drug summit was the fifth and final session to be held around the state to teach local law enforcement how to detect methamphetamine labs in their areas. Smith urged all present to look for not only methamphetamine but also club drugs, such as Ecstasy and gamma-hydroxybutyrate, the so-called date-rape drug. Methamphetamine labs have been discovered in the past 18 months in Kenosha, Janesville and Beloit - but none in Milwaukee or Waukesha counties, said Bob Sloey, director of operations for the state Department of Justice's Division of Narcotics Enforcement. A lab in Dane County was discovered when it literally exploded, Sloey said. No one was injured. Methamphetamine, often called poor man's cocaine, crank, ice, chalk, glass or yaba, is a potentially deadly mix of cleaning solvents and farm fertilizers, which users often siphon from ammonia tanks on farms. The ingredients are cooked into a powder that can be smoked, injected, snorted or swallowed. The drug creates a pleasurable high but can cause paranoia, mood swings and aggressive behavior. Club drugs like Ecstasy can cause hypothermia, muscle breakdown, seizures, strokes, brain damage and death. Hutchinson said that a recent medical study showed a possible connection between Ecstasy and Parkinson's disease. Hutchinson also cited national efforts to curtail drug supplies, including the arrests last month of 115 people in 84 cities who were selling "date rape" drugs on the Internet. "We have made progress," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth