Pubdate: Thu, 13 Mar 2003
Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2003 Fayetteville Observer
Contact:  http://www.fayettevillenc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150
Author: Amneris Solano, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METHAMPHETAMINE'S POPULARITY RISES

Methamphetamine traffic in North Carolina has grown, and narcotics agents 
fear it will continue to spread.

Four years ago, the State Bureau of Investigation seized six meth labs. 
Last year, 98 clandestine drug labs, mostly meth, were seized in North 
Carolina. So far this year, agents have discovered more than 20 meth labs.

Lawmen are trying to stop the trend before the drug becomes as predominant 
as it has in other states. Vincent Morgano, assistant special agent in 
charge of Drug Enforcement Administration operations in Tennessee, said 
meth is spreading from the west to North Carolina.

In the last three years, the number of meth labs seized in Tennessee has 
more than tripled, Morgano said. He estimates that Tennessee lawmen seize 
at least one lab a day.

"We didn't have a meth problem here prior to 1996," he said. "Last year, we 
seized 470 labs in Tennessee. In 1996, we seized only two. It's only a 
matter of time before North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia become 
the front line."

Previously, meth was mostly smuggled into the South from Arizona and 
California, lawmen said. The drug is mostly manufactured in the Midwest. 
But production has been slowly moving east.

"This is not a problem that North Carolina went looking for," said Attorney 
General Roy Cooper. "This a problem that came looking for us."

Meth is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system and causes 
increased activity and decreased appetite. The drug increases the heart 
rate and blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. One dose 
can keep a user awake for three days, sometimes leading to paranoia or 
violence.

Use Spreading

Called "crank" or "ice," meth gives the user a sense of euphoria similar to 
the effects of crack cocaine. The drug was popular among college students, 
truck drivers and athletes in the 1950s and is gaining popularity nationwide.

"It's very addictive, but it is also one of the easier drugs to get off," 
said Cindi Brooks, a clinical addiction specialist at Behavioral Health 
Care of the Cape Fear Valley Health System. "A part of addiction is denial. 
Crank is a 24-hour high, and there are few people who find that attractive 
very often. You can't eat. You can't sleep. It gets to where you are tired 
of that. There is no kidding yourself with crank."

Brooks said she has not detected an increase in the number of people 
seeking help for meth addiction.

Greg Pitts, who is 44, used crystal meth in his late 20s. Pitts said he 
experimented with the drug while also using other illegal substances. Back 
then, he said, he could take $20 worth of "brown crank" and stay high for 
12 hours. The drug can be snorted, smoked or injected. Pitts snorted it.

"It had a real pungent odor, and it stung the back of your nasal cavity," 
he said. "It had a real acrid taste, and when it drained, it gets in the 
membranes. That's called a drip."

Today Pitts works with Cumberland County Mental Health helping drug users. 
He has been clean for years and sometimes shares his story with clients.

He said the drug is still popular among truck drivers. His agency has not 
noticed an increase in the number of clients seeking help for meth 
addiction, he said.

"A lot of times people who use a lot of cocaine will use meth," he said. 
"It gives you a false sense of enthusiasm. A lot of people use alcohol with 
it to offset the effect and to come down a little bit. It can turn into a 
real vicious cycle."

Labs Found

In the Cape Fear region, more methamphetamine has been found in Harnett and 
Sampson than in other counties. Harnett lawmen have uncovered at least four 
labs during three years. Last month, four people were charged with selling 
and trafficking in the drug.

Last year, Sampson lawmen found three labs. On Feb. 2, deputies arrested 
two Dunn men on charges of possession of supplies for producing 
methamphetamine.

In January, investigators in Bladen County raided a mobile home in Dublin 
and found 10 doses of meth and meth-producing chemicals. Bladen lawmen said 
it was the first discovery of a meth lab in the county. Other counties in 
the region have reported increases in the number of meth dealers and users.

Part of meth's appeal is its accessibility, authorities say. Dealers do not 
have to be connected to a trafficker. They can download instructions for 
making the drug from the Internet.

"The drug kingpins are no longer outside of the country," said Cooper, the 
attorney general. "They are right in our back yard. These secret drug labs 
are being set up in people's apartments and homes."

Local, state and federal agencies say they come together to fight the 
trend. Officers in local departments and at the N.C. Justice Academy in 
Salemburg are being trained to recognize the signs of a lab.

Chief Deputy John Conerly of the Sampson County Sheriff's Office said rural 
departments such as his depend on federal and state agencies to help 
uncover the labs. Finding meth labs often takes manpower and resources 
rural departments do not have, he said.

He worked as a narcotics agent for about 20 years and saw the emergence of 
crack cocaine in Sampson County during the 1980s. He remembers when cocaine 
became a drug of choice among users. Now he's seeing methamphetamine creep 
into the county's rural communities.

"I have a theory," he said. "Drugs are fads. First it was powdered cocaine, 
then crack and now meth."

The emergence of meth labs in the state has been sporadic, said Dave 
Gaddis, special agent in charge of Drug Enforcement Administration 
operations in the state. Some lawmen say they are beginning to notice a 
concentration of meth labs in rural areas.

Last year, SBI agents seized 15 labs in Rutherford County in the western 
part of the state. Rutherford has 63,332 people, according to the 2001 
census, and few cities. Nine labs were uncovered in Johnston County, which 
borders Harnett and Sampson.

Dangerous Chemicals

Methamphetamine can be risky not only for users but for those who handle 
the explosive chemicals used in making it. Chemicals from meth labs can 
lead to illnesses in those who "cook" the drug or people living and working 
nearby.

Methamphetamine was developed in 1919 in Japan. The drug is a more potent 
form of amphetamine, which was created in Germany 32 years earlier. 
Amphetamines, often found in over-the-counter cold medicines, are now used 
to illegally produce meth.

Today large-scale meth labs are centered in the western United States. 
Outlaw biker gangs were once the primary traffickers of the drug. The 
larger suppliers are now organized-crime groups operating from Mexico, 
authorities say.

Gaddis said authorities have not found "super labs."

"These labs have the ability to produce multiple pounds of the drug in a 
single cooking cycle, which is an alarming rate. We haven't seen it here, 
and we hope not to," he said.

Cooks can set up labs for a few hundred dollars and turn a quick profit. 
The drug can cost about $100 an ounce to make and can be sold for $800 an 
ounce. It can be made using common household products such as paint 
thinner, allergy medicine and lye.

"You don't have to be a chemist with a degree to make it," said Harnett 
County Sheriff Larry Rollins. "It's what I like to call a kitchen-soup 
recipe. It doesn't take a lot of knowledge. And it's like any other 
business where there's a demand - there's a supply."

Many users are women who take the drug for weight loss. Authorities say 
users often become lab operators to support their habits. Cookers tend to 
be white people in rural areas, authorities said.

Meth production has a strong ammonia odor, which can go undetected longer 
in the country. But the smell does not stop cookers from setting up labs 
just about anywhere, authorities said. Lawmen have found meth labs in hotel 
rooms, apartments and cars.

"It is very costly to clean up an area that has been exposed to these 
chemicals," Gaddis said. "Manufacturing one pound of meth yields five 
pounds of hazardous waste."

Local agencies call the SBI and DEA to clear the labs. Agents must be 
certified, and dismantling a lab can take more than 32 hours. On average, 
the DEA spends $10,000 to $12,000 to clean up a lab, according to the SBI.

In April 2002, two Erwin police officers were hospitalized after being 
overcome by ammonia fumes during a raid on a meth lab. Residents within a 
three-block radius were evacuated from their homes.

Anhydrous ammonia, a common farm chemical, is a main ingredient in making 
meth. Exposure to it can cause blindness, lung damage or death, according 
to the National Agricultural Safety Database.

Law enforcement agencies want to get cooperation from businesses and 
companies that sell products used in making methamphetamine, Cooper said. 
Authorities have asked business owners to be leery of customers who buy 
certain chemicals and products in bulk, he said.

In Washington state, legislators have limited the number of 
allergy-medicine packets a customer can buy. Medicines containing ephedrine 
or amphetamine are kept behind glass cases, Cooper said.

"I think we have to have a concerted effort," he said. "Education is 
important. A lot of people don't know about these synthetic drugs."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager