Pubdate: Fri, 03 Dec 2004
Source: Muskogee Daily Phoenix (OK)
Copyright: C2004 Muskogee Daily Phoenix
Contact: http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3319
Author: Cathy Spaulding, Phoenix Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

NEW LAW HELPS, BUT LABS STILL PREVALENT

A state law clamping down on sales of pseudoephedrine has brought a
sharp decline in the number of methamphetamine lab seizures in Oklahoma.

But it did not eradicate the problem, especially in counties close to
the state line, law enforcement officers say.

"If they cannot buy pseudoephedrine in Tahlequah, they're going to go
30 miles to Arkansas to load up," Cherokee County Sheriff Delena Goss
said. Two men and two children were killed early Thursday in what
prosecutors believe was a meth lab explosion.

However, Goss said Thursday afternoon that she still had no
confirmation that the explosion was related to a meth lab.

Goss said she has seen little change in meth lab activity in her part
of the state since the pseudoephedrine law went into effect. Under the
law, pseudoephedrine products can be bought only from pharmacies and
in limited quantities. The chemical, found in many cold medicines, has
been the main ingredient used to make meth in Oklahoma and other states.

"We've seen very few cases since the law went into effect," said Dick
Huitt, the Muskogee County District Attorney Drug Task Force field
supervisor. "We were averaging at least one a week for two months, now
it's down to one a month for us."

The pseudoephedrine restrictions began sending people to other states
instead of the corner drugstore to get the drug, he said.

 From 1994 to 2003, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs saw a hundredfold jump in the number of meth labs
seized, from 10 in 1994 to 1,235 in 2003. The numbers rose drastically
in 1999 and did not let up until the pseudoephedrine law went into
effect.

While northeast and southeast Oklahoma have a reputation for high
methamphetamine use, Tulsa and Oklahoma counties have far more
arrests, Woodward said.

Last year Oklahoma County reported 175 meth lab seizures and Tulsa
County reported 212, he said. "The next closest were Sequoyah and
Wagoner counties. But all 77 counties have meth labs."

The manufacture of methamphetamine can cause fire, Woodward
said.

"You're using ether or paint thinner and the fumes are highly
volatile," he said. "People may forget about a pilot light or even a
cigarette. The fumes build up around the heat source and cause a fire."

Often, the fires go unreported because of fear of being caught making
methamphetamines, he said.

For the same reason, people injured in meth lab explosions are not
likely to get help at emergency rooms and their wounds get infected
and worsen, Woodward said.
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