Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2005
Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.journalnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504
Note: The Journal does not publish letters from writers outside its daily 
home delivery circulation area.
Author: David RiceJournal Raleigh Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?208 (Environmental Issues)

N.C. FIGHTS METH WARS

Cooper Offers Plan On Ways To Quash Drug's Production

Saying that it is more dangerous than crack cocaine and that Watauga County 
is ground zero for the drug in North Carolina, Attorney General Roy Cooper 
issued recommendations yesterday for efforts to combat the spread of 
methamphetamine.

"This issue is so much more serious than crack because, No. 1, the drug 
produces a high that lasts so much longer," Cooper said.

"And then the manufacture of methamphetamine is so dangerous - the danger 
of fire, the danger of explosion, the danger of toxic chemicals," he said. 
"That's why this is so much more dangerous."

Though the drug has been spreading east from California for more than 20 
years, Cooper said, North Carolina has had a twentyfold increase in the 
drug in recent years.

Authorities raided nine labs where methamphetamine is made in 1999, but by 
last year the number of labs raided had grown to 177. Watauga County 
accounted for 34 of those raids, Ashe County for eight, Avery for four and 
McDowell for seven.

"It's been said that the first step toward fixing a problem is 
acknowledging you have one. And here in North Carolina, we have a huge 
problem," Cooper said.

Robin Pendergraft, the director of the State Bureau of Investigation, said 
that it is no coincidence that those mountain counties are near the border 
with Tennessee, which has an even bigger problem with meth than North 
Carolina does.

"I think they're sharing in the 'how to,'" Pendergraft said.

Methamphetamine - known variously as meth, crystal meth, speed or ice - is 
a central nervous-system stimulant that produces a euphoria that can 
typically last six hours.

The drug can be made from ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, common ingredients 
in over-the-counter cold medicines, and "cooked" or produced in a home kitchen.

Officials said that it is highly addictive.

Cooper issued his preliminary recommendations - which include stiffer 
penalties for manufacturers, more money for law enforcement and 
public-awareness campaigns - after holding a summit in Winston-Salem on 
methamphetamine last October.

He said he wants to hear responses from the public and law-enforcement 
officials before making his final recommendations.

"We're going to work to put in tougher penalties, and we're going to ask 
the General Assembly to do that," Cooper said.

Cooper said that law-enforcement officials have few tools to combat the 
spread of the drug, and he mentioned that Jerry Wilson, the district 
attorney for Watauga County, charged one offender with producing a weapon 
of mass destruction last year.

"I think the weapon-of-mass-destruction charge that the district attorney 
made out there was out of frustration," Cooper said.

He said he wants to toughen penalties for those who make meth - including 
possession of precursor chemicals - because current law issues tougher 
sentences for those who sell it.

Manufacturers with no criminal record generally get a suspended sentence 
and probation, he said, quoting a Watauga narcotics officer who said: "Some 
of them were back out cooking before we could get the paperwork done."

Cooper also cited a special danger to children, saying that 25 percent of 
the meth labs that the state busted last year were also homes to children 
who were exposed to toxic fumes and the risk of fires and explosions.

The state should toughen its child-endangerment laws to make penalties 
stiffer for adults who place children in such situations, he said.

Because the drug can be produced from ingredients in over-the-counter 
medicines, Cooper said that authorities also want pharmacy and other 
retailers to alert officials to big purchases.

"They need to know that a person who goes in and buys 10 boxes of Sudafed 
is not a big family with a bad cold," he said.

Sheriff Donnie Harrison of Wake County said that officials also hope for 
help from hotel and motel workers. Officers raided a lab at a Raleigh motel 
last year where law-enforcement officers and legislators were staying, he said.

"If you have people who come in and don't want their room cleaned ... the 
maids can really help us," Harrison said. "It can explode, and there's no 
telling what could happen."

Cooper said that the meth epidemic affects multiple agencies: law 
enforcement, first responders, prosecutors, health officials and social 
services.

Though no figures were available yesterday, Pendergraft said that 
law-enforcement authorities need more money to combat the drug. For every 
raid on a lab, agents must wear protective "moon suits" that cost as much 
as $600 each and can't be reused, she said.

Cooper also wants the state to develop standards for the cleanup of meth 
lab sites.

"Five to 6 pounds of toxic waste is produced with every pound of 
methamphetamine made. It's got to go somewhere, and oftentimes it's left on 
the ground or in the water," he said.
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