Pubdate: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 2005 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198 Author: Kim Cobb Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) OKLAHOMA METH LABS VANISH AFTER LAW CHANGE Restricting Sale Of Medicines With A Key Ingredient Is Also The Object Of A Bill In Texas RESOURCES TEXAS TAKES STEPS State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, has filed House Bill 264 after noting the apparent success of the Oklahoma law. "Last year one-third of the meth-lab busts in the state happened in Northeast Texas," he says. Next step: Berman's bill is scheduled for a hearing before the law enforcement committee April 4. Meanwhile: A similar bill is pending in the Texas Senate. PONCA CITY, OKLA. - The meth was cheap and easy here and as plentiful as the wind raking at the grassland around the region's faded farmhouses. The dangerous cooking of the drug had become a cottage industry, fueled by gaunt mom-and-pop operators called "tweakers." It was consuming lives, overtaxing social services agencies and maiming police officers sent to stop it. The process is extremely flammable and the fumes toxic. "There's not been any drug problem that's affected communities like this one," said local investigator Russell Busby. "Houses blowing up, barns blowing up, motel rooms blowing up." But that was before a simple change in law last April that restricted the sale of cold tablets such as Sudafed, a common ingredient used by methamphetamine cooks. Such drugs now are sold only in pharmacies, with identification required, and in small amounts. 'We're ecstatic' Now, less than a year later, every bordering state, including Texas, is pursuing similar legislation to restrict the sale of products containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. The governor of Arkansas signed its bill into law last month. Last Tuesday, Iowa enacted the strongest state measure yet, requiring identification and a signature to buy the medicine. The reason is obvious in Oklahoma. The number of meth labs seized statewide dropped by nearly half in the first month after the law changed and dropped by nearly 80 percent by December. "We're ecstatic," said Busby, chief investigator for the 8th District Attorney's Office in Ponca City. The side benefits for police and other agencies have been tangible. Drug investigators say there's still plenty of meth use in northern Oklahoma, but most users now must buy from Mexican suppliers instead of endangering their children, neighbors and local police with volatile home labs. Busby and the local drug task-force officers expected the change in law to help; they didn't expect the meth-lab seizures to drop so dramatically. They have gone back to the business of tracking major drug suppliers, Busby said, instead of spending all their time chasing small-time meth cookers. "We'd get calls from everywhere," Busby said. "We checked on hundreds of possible meth labs ... and we'd get there right after they left." Gear increases danger Most of the meth cookers made small amounts for personal use, Busby said. But the public hazards associated with production are so great that officers feel compelled to follow up on every report, he said. It was dangerous work. Greg Wright, a 25-year police veteran, had to retire after exposure to meth fumes left him with severe lung damage. It's become common for law officers to don haz-mat gear before entering a location suspected of housing a meth lab. But that can create another problem. "It's such a complicated situation because if you're going to make an entry into a meth lab, you may believe you need to go in with your protective clothing, which hampers your peripheral vision," Busby said. "You may end up with an officer shot." Busby said there are a few local meth producers still in the business in northern Oklahoma, but they are making larger batches, frequently traveling to adjacent border states such as Texas and Kansas to buy the cold tablets they can no longer buy in bulk at home. Problems multiplied Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that can quickly change the user's life. Confusion and anxiety are typical, and the user frequently suffers from sleeplessness and hallucinations. Children living in homes with meth labs are at extreme risk of mental and physical problems because of chemical exposure. And their parents are heavily armed. "Nothing prepared us for the onslaught of guns we've found with these meth users," Busby said. "These people are all paranoid, and they're seeing things if they've been up for days." Sheriff Ronnie Brownlow of Henderson County in East Texas says meth has caused the same problems for him in the past five years that other rural counties face: Too few deputies to handle the proliferation. In addition, social services agencies have been overtaxed, he said, by increased numbers of people needing treatment for mental illness and drug addiction, as well as increased services for the children of abusers. Numbers questioned Brownlow expects passage of Oklahoma-type legislation will have the same effect in Texas. But the federal Drug Enforcement Agency is reluctant to endorse the Oklahoma law. "Right now our official position on the Oklahoma legislation is it looks very promising," said Ed Childress, spokesman for the DEA in Washington. "But we want to give it plenty of time to be able to analyze it and make sure the stats we receive back are accurate. "We want to make sure of the long-term effect, that it's not just some sort of anomaly," Childress said. Busby wonders what kind of proof the feds need. "If our numbers don't speak volumes, I don't know what they're waiting on," Busby said. Officers working the two counties in his district have found only three labs in the first two months of this year, he said. They found 24 in the same period last year. "It's not even arguable," Busby said. "Our numbers are phenomenal." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom