Pubdate: Sun, 07 Aug 2005
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Contact:  http://www.telegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/509
Note: Source rarely prints LTEs received from outside its circulation area
Author:  Milton J. Valencia
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

OFFICIALS BRACE FOR METH EPIDEMIC

Labs On The Rise In New England

Inside a Webster home, where a woman lay unconscious of a suspected drug 
overdose, police found beakers, funnels and flasks, iodine, red phosphorous 
and a bottle of lye. But it was the packets of cold medication detectives 
saw that triggered alarm.

Theya're known as Sudafed in stores, but here they were  used to make 
methamphetamine, an illegal, chemical drug that has swarmed the western 
United States and, officials fear, is making its way here.

"I  was actually surprised to stumble on it," said Webster Police Detective 
James  Hoover, who has worked on federal task forces investigating 
methamphetamine labs  in other parts of the country.

"Only because I have never seen one in  this area," he said. "To actually 
know it was here was a surprise."

It  was nearly two years ago that police found the secret laboratory in 
Webster.  Since then, a laboratory was discovered in Chelmsford in June and 
another in  Lowell on Thursday, according to the federal Drug Enforcement 
Administration.  Still, the growing popularity of what has been called 
America's deadliest drug  threat, with thousands of labs discovered in the 
West and Midwest, has officials  in New England preparing for the worst: 
more secret labs with toxic chemicals -- a new addiction, a new epidemic -- 
arriving here.

"Anything that is  prevalent across the country is going to come here 
sooner or later,"  said state Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester. 
"It's coming. It's on its way."

She has filed a bill to restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine -- the key 
ingredient for meth production, found in Sudafed and other cold remedies. 
The bill mirrors legislation passed in states in the West and Midwest, 
where methamphetamine has been called an epidemic.

Keith Goodhue, 30, who  pleaded guilty last month to building an illegal 
drug laboratory in his Webster  home, told investigators he learned the 
trade from a friend in New Mexico, and  brought the equipment here. He 
planned to sell crystal meth on the streets,  where it would be a new high 
for those who make heroin and OxyContin their drug  of choice. It would be 
his moneymaker.

Oklahoma was one of the first  states to pass legislation restricting the 
sale of pseudoephedrine, and has  claimed success in reducing the number of 
meth labs that have been found. In  2003, 1,233 meth labs discovered in 
Oklahoma. The next year, when the  legislation was passed, 812 labs were 
discovered. Of the 812, 347, or 43  percent, were found before the law was 
passed in April.

Since then,  other states are following with their own legislation. More 
than 30 states have  passed such laws in the last two years, and at least 
seven have legislation  pending, according to pharmacy and chain drugstore 
groups. In Oregon, cold  medicines with pseudoephedrine as the sole 
ingredient must be prescribed, under  a law passed last month that is now 
the most stringent in the country. Legislation is also pending in Congress, 
having already passed the Senate  Judiciary Committee.

In Massachusetts, Mrs. Chandler's bill would  restrict the sale of 
medications with pseudoephedrine to 9 grams, and any  product with 
pseudoephedrine as the sole ingredient would be placed behind a counter. 
Customers would have to show ID, and sign a log book.

Such  laws, "are definitely sweeping the country,"  said Mary Ann Wagner, a 
spokeswoman  for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which 
represents stores here,  including CVS Pharmacy, Brooks Pharmacy, and Rite-Aid.

Ms. Wagner said  her group first opposed legislation against the sale of 
remedies containing  pseudoephedrine, saying it would be an inconvenience 
for law-abiding customers  and force stores to change their ways of operation.

But, the group found  itself under increased pressure, as more states have 
passed or introduced  legislation restricting the sale of certain cold 
remedies. Mrs. Wagner said  chain stores are pushing for uniform 
legislation, under laws introduced in  Congress. Until then, dozens of 
stores, anticipating crackdowns on the sale of  medications with 
pseudoephedrine, have voluntarily taken the medication off  shelves and put 
it behind pharmacy counters, or in security cases. The stores are following 
some of the most stringent standards that have been passed, Ms. Wagner 
said, calling it an effort to abide with law enforcement but at the 
same  time offer a product.

The production of methamphetamine has become as  simple as following 
cooking directions, with pseudoephedrine bought  over-the-counter and mixed 
with other items such as drain cleaner, Coleman fuel  and coffee filters. 
The ingredients are cooked and re-cooked into a final, crystal-like product 
that has been named crystal meth, ice, crank, and even the  working-man's 
cocaine. Directions to make the drug can be found on the Internet.

"They can make it any way it takes, they can make it in a bathroom if  they 
know what they are doing,"  said Detective Hoover. HEA's seen laboratories 
in basements and garages, even tractor-trailer trucks in the four years he 
spent on  an FBI task force. He said he has participated in several FBI and 
DEA training  programs, so could identify the equipment in Mr. Goodhue's home.

For the  most part, however, there's no protocol in New England because law 
enforcement  hasn't seen the drug in abundance. Detective Hoover bets there 
are police  officers who, through no fault of their own, wouldn't know the 
look or smell of  crystal methamphetamine, because it's rare in New 
England. They could see some  of the ingredients but still not realize it 
is a laboratory, he said.

But recent arrests and investigations show the drug is making its way here, 
even if slowly. In February, Detective Hoover and others, through a 
continuing investigation in Webster, arrested two teenage girls for 
distributing methamphetamine. There have been arrests in Worcester for 
possession of the  drug. Last week in Lowell, detectives found a lab that 
was booby-trapped with  pipe bombs. It is a new battle for police 
detectives still unfamiliar with methamphetamine.

"It's a whole different culture," said Worcester police  Sgt. Timothy Oa€TM 
Connor, of the vice squad, saying heroin remains the state's  epidemic. 
Perhaps because of the price, he said. Years ago, heroin was $40 a  bag, 
but can be bought now for $6.

Now, the popularity of  methamphetamine and the simple process of making it 
are propelling the drug into  suburban communities, where users are smoking 
it, snorting it, digesting it and  shooting it with needles. It is called 
America' s newest epidemic. Newsweek  magazine featured the drug on the 
cover of its latest issue. The National Association of Counties identified 
it as the country's highest drug problem.

"It's just a terrible, highly addictive drug,"  said Utah state Sen. Gene 
Davis, a member of the Reform States Group, a volunteer organization of 
public officials from different states pushing for uniform legislation on 
social issues. The group has commissioned a study on methamphetamine use, 
identifying it as a growing threat across the country, Mr. Davis said, and 
has called for legislation restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine. Mrs. 
Chandler introduced legislation for Massachusetts after attending the 
group's meeting in the fall,  and hearing other states' stories.

"It seemed like whenever one state  would bring it up, every other state 
would say "'yeah, yeah yeah,'" said Mr.  Davis, who said Utah has seen the 
number of meth labs decrease since legislation  was passed. Last year, 
authorities in his state discovered 69 labs.

Mr.  Davis, who has studied methamphetamine and has been on the Reform 
States Group's  steering committee, said the drug is becoming popular among 
young women, who  feel the speed feeling will help them run a household and 
raise a family. "Until  they crash,"  he said. The drug has made inroads in 
the gay community, because of  the euphoric feeling it triggers, raising 
concerns of unprotected sex and the  spread of disease, Mr. Davis said. 
Statistics show teenagers have used it. It is  popular in the rave 
community. It promotes a criminal culture, a violent  culture, Mr. Davis said.

"Methamphetamine is vicious,"  said Dr.  Punyamurtula Kishore, an addiction 
specialist and founding member of the  National Library of Addictions. "The 
desire is so strong, they will do anything."

Mr. Kishore, whose practice is based in Massachusetts, said methamphetamine 
addicts are rare in the state, and those he treats are mostly  cocaine or 
heroin addicts who have perhaps tried methamphetamine. But he has  treated 
several people addicted to methamphetamine alone. There are those who  were 
addicts in Massachusetts and traveled to Utah, or California, to 
visit  family and found a new addiction, he said. He said methamphetamine 
triggers a sensation similar to cocaine. Only it is much cheaper. And, with 
the opportunity  to make it at home, it is more accessible.

"The next thing you know,  they come back with a meth addiction," Dr. 
Kishore said. "They bring it back.  Once they get addicted to it, they just 
like it."

Anthony Pettigrew,  spokesman for the DEA's New England field division, 
said methamphetamine is a  growing concern in the area, and the DEA has 
teams trained in handing chemicals  in clandestine laboratories. He said 
most of the drugs found are mailed in from super-labs in Mexico, where the 
ingredients to make it are under less scrutiny  and the product is mass 
produced.

Still, there is a growing concern of  laboratories forming in New England, 
he said, and others states are considering  legislation restricting 
pseudoephedrine. New Hampshire has introduced a law mirroring those passed 
in other states, and Mrs. Chandler sent letters to  delegates throughout 
New England calling for a uniformed code. There is no point  if customers 
can simply travel to another state for the product, she said.

"We don't want the scourge of meth as in the West to travel to the 
East,"  Mr. Pettigrew said. He said last week there have been seven 
laboratories found in New England in 2005; three in Connecticut, two in 
New  Hampshire; one in Maine; and one in Massachusetts.

Mr. Pettigrew made  his comments before New England's eighth laboratory was 
found in Lowell on  Thursday. The DEA's hazardous materials division was 
called in after police in  Lowell responding to a call of a weird odor and 
suspicious drug activity  discovered the lab.

"Once the officers arrived, they realized what they  had and called in the 
professionals,"  said Lowell police Capt. Kevin Staveley.  He said three 
pipe bombs were discovered, too, but it was not known then whether  they 
were active. Owen  Neill, 25, was charged with manufacturing a class 
B  substance and three counts of possession of an infernal device.

There  are greater concerns beyond the addiction, officials said. The 
chemicals used in  the process are highly toxic, and have caused 
explosions. An investigating  officer could accidentally tip over a bottle 
of ether, Detective Hoover said. Or  someone making it could mix the wrong 
chemical. The production of one pound of methamphetamine releases poisonous 
gas and creates five to seven pounds of toxic  waste, according to the 
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

There are also concerns of children living in homes where the labs are 
located and fumes released. Under Mrs. Chandler's proposal, any minor found 
in  the vicinity of a meth lab would immediately be placed in protective 
custody.

There were two children in Mr. Goodhue's home in Webster when police 
entered on Nov. 11, 2003. Officers were there for a woman reported 
unconscious  of a drug overdose. While there, they noticed fresh needle 
tracks in her arm and inquired further. They feared needles were in the 
room where the children were located, according to court documents. They 
found the needles. Then they found a  glass evaporator, a bottle of lye, 
pan burners, a propane tank, coffee filters,  scales, funnels, -- and 
various narcotics paraphernalia including empty blister  packs of cold 
medication containing pseudoephedrine.

"The chemicals  appeared to be in various stages of methamphetamine 
manufacturing,"  a court  affidavit reads. Mr. Goodhuea's two children were 
referred to the Department of  Youth Services. His wife, Susan, was in the 
hospital for some time, police said.

It was only after the arrest, when court proceedings began, that 
authorities learned Mr. Goodhue was placed on a federal watch list for 
buying  products in New Mexico that are associated with the production 
of  methamphetamine. He is expected to be sentenced in federal court in 
October, and  faces imprisonment of up to 20 years in jail.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth