Pubdate: Sun, 21 Sep 2003
Source: Laurel Leader-Call (MS)
Copyright: 2003 Laurel Leader-Call
Contact:  http://www.leadercall.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1662
Author: Brian Livingston

CRYSTAL METH SPEEDING INTO ALL WALKS OF LIFE

A basic premise in America is that faster is better. From instant tea to TV 
dinners to sports, Pentium IV processors to G4 Powered Macs, if there's a 
way to do something faster, we'll figure out how to do it.

That's a big reason why stimulant drugs have proliferated from the western 
United States across to the eastern seaboard.

Speed drugs are a complex group of chemicals with one thing in common: They 
can cause all sorts of problems for people who take them -- and all kinds 
of people are taking them these days.

And not only are more people using speed, they're also using its most 
hypercharged form -- crystal meth. The most potent form of speed in 
methamphetamine. It is cooked in makeshift labs and sold on the street as a 
powder, which is injected, snorted or swallowed. A smokable form of crystal 
meth, called "ice," is also used.

The recent increase in crystal meth use and manufacture is of great concern 
to law enforcement agencies in the state and Jones County. Meth has become 
the popular drug of choice among the poor to middle-class populations. This 
demographic of meth users employ the chemical anhydrous ammonia and 
ordinary over-the-counter cold pills to "cook" their batches.

Jones County Sheriff Larry Dykes said he had never been in contact with 
crystal meth users or the drugs until taking office in 2000.

"I was put on a crash course on meth," he said. "This is a drug problem we 
will have to deal with for years to come. I just don't see a light at the 
end of the tunnel."

According to the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, crystal meth drug arrests 
almost tripled from 2001 to 2002. Part of the reason was the realization of 
how widespread the drug and the labs that produce it had become. Crystal 
meth arrests went from 312 in 2001 to 849 in 2002. Due to increased 
pressure on the drug users and manufacturers, meth arrests dropped somewhat 
- -- to 727 -- in 2003.

Southeast Mississippi Drug Task Force Commander Roger Williams said the 
general public doesn't have a clue as to the extent crystal meth is used in 
the county and state.

"I just did an in-service with ambulance personnel and they didn't know 
just how much the drug was used out there," Williams said. "Part of that 
reason is these people don't call an ambulance if they get in a bad way 
with the drug because they know they'll be reported. They just tough it out."

Widely available in the 1960s, crystal meth faded in the '70s, as controls 
on its use and distribution tightened. The use of the speed drug in those 
days, however, was nowhere as diverse and prolific as it is today. That 
fact helped to concentrate constraints and laws. Now, the drug has exploded 
from it's resurgence in California in the 90's to the Carolinas today.

Crystal meth became the hot new high to a new generation of users too young 
to know firsthand, or to have heard secondhand, the downside of uppers. The 
downside is huge. Risks are so extreme because the drug works so well at 
overamping the central nervous system and zapping feelings of hunger and 
fatigue. The result is the same sort of physical stress that follows any 
extreme exertion. The big difference is that speed users tend to stretch 
the "speed runs" for days or weeks, without food or rest, putting 
impossible demands on the body and brain.

For needle users, add in the hazards that come with injecting any drug. For 
meth smokers, multiply it all by the still largely unknown risk factor of 
exposing lung tissue to vaporized meth crystals. And you thought smoking a 
cigarette was bad.

"The health hazard goes beyond the users in a lot of cases," said Williams. 
"Because of the types of chemicals, which are wide ranging, that are used 
to make this drug, fumes, fires, and explosion hazards are created. Again, 
if something bad goes wrong, they aren't going to tell anyone but the 
horror stories are out there."

Ever wonder why there aren't a whole lot of old speed freaks around in the 
real world. They don't live long enough to get old.

In many ways, the human body is like a Timex watch in that it can take a 
licking and keep on ticking. Still, the body isn't indestructible. Speed, 
more than any drug group, pushes the mind and body faster and further than 
either was meant to go. The long term effects on the physical well being of 
a speed user are massive leading ultimately to organ damage, particularly 
to the lungs and kidneys.

Then there are the mind games speed plays on the brain. Anxiety, 
depression, chronic fatigue, delusions, paranoia, and violent behavior are 
just a few of the mental imbalances which can occur.

"We've done surveillance on subjects who were mowing their lawn at 2 a.m. 
naked," said Dykes. "These people are very unpredictable, moody, and 
generally hard to figure out when they are strung out on this stuff."

Speed is highly addictive. To quit "cold turkey" has been compared to being 
hit by a Mack truck over and over again. The body and brain, after having 
been assaulted by the drug and its effects over a period of time, craves 
the drug. For this reason, many who use the drug end up either dead or 
shackled to it for a very long time.

Both Dykes and Williams said it is the public who is their main pipeline of 
information and Williams added it is to the public's best interest, health 
wise, to report anyone who may be suspected of operating a meth lab.

"Any strong, strange smell is a good indicator something different is going 
on," Williams said. "I don't know how many of our investigations begin with 
someone calling and telling us they smell something weird. The fumes, 
normally of ammonia, can hurt you and others such as ether and alcohol are 
naturally combustible and explosive."

But that is with the home made batches cooked locally in sheds and out in 
the middle of wooded areas. What about crystal meth being brought into the 
state.

"That is the purest of the mix," Williams said. "That mostly comes from 
California and we really don't see much of it."

A total of 52.22 kilograms of methamphetamine were seized in highway 
interdictions in the state according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

One of the main problems with detecting the use or manufacture of crystal 
meth is the ingredients can be bought from any retail outlet or farm 
implement store. That in itself shows just how inexpensive it can be to 
make. Williams said it is important for business owners and managers to pay 
attention to who is buying what and how much quantity.

"We don't' want to alarm anyone who is going in to buy some cold tablets 
but if you go in and buy two-dozen packs of Sudafed, nobody has that bad a 
cold," Williams said.

So what happens when a lab is found?

"We have to get someone to clean it up," said Dykes.

In years past, when labs were first being encountered, that cost was 
normally footed by the local law enforcement agency but with the tidal wave 
of cases has come a switch to the Department of Environmental Quality.

"The cleanups of the sites are considered hazardous waste areas," said a 
spokesman for the DEQ. "The nature of the chemicals, and the different 
mixtures, constitute some pretty bad things."

The average cost to clean up a site is in the range of $5,000 depending on 
many variables. The DEQ calls in contractors to do the actual work but the 
bill is paid by taxpayers of Mississippi.

"That is a burden on the taxpayer we are constantly trying to wipe out 
along with the drug," said Dykes. "If we can get rid of the drug, we can 
get rid of that financial burden as well."

There is no way for Dykes, Williams, or anyone else to see what may be the 
breaking point in crystal meth manufacture and use. Some say it may come 
when the drug is replaced by something else -- a hot drug -- that will 
steer future generations away from their current addiction. But the fact is 
crystal meth is here and the future is now.

"Will it go away?" Dykes asked rhetorically, "I don't see it happening."
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