Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jun 2006
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2006 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter-to-editor.php
Website: http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Jaclyn O'Malley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that 
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

AS POPULATION SOARS, SO DOES METH PROBLEM

For the last four years, Lyon County has been the fastest-growing 
county in Nevada.

It was also recently ranked second in the nation for per-capita 
growth for counties with populations of 10,000 or more. The 
population grew 34 percent from 2000 to 2005, when the number of 
residents exceeded 52,000.

And as the county's population has surged, so has its methamphetamine problem.

According to Lt. Bob Sherlock, supervisor for the Lyon County 
Sheriff's Office four-person Narcotics Division, most of the drug 
team's work is aimed at methamphetamine investigations. Between 2004 
and 2005, meth arrests were up 52 percent, investigations up 27 
percent, search warrants up 136 percent, complaints up 66 percent and 
street value of drugs seized up 83 percent.

Sherlock calls it a methamphetamine epidemic.

"Years before the unit started (in 2000), there was a meth problem; a 
real drain on the system," Sherlock said. "Our goal is to drop the 
crime rate. Major crimes here are centered around meth. If we put a 
dent in drug use and sales, then there's going to be a decrease in crime."

Narcotics officers say they don't have enough resources to crack down 
on all of the meth traffickers and dealers in the large rural area. 
There are some Lyon County deputies assigned to Tri-Net, a Nevada 
Department of Public Safety regional anti-drug unit. Sherlock's unit, 
though, focuses on Lyon County only.

Sherlock said a national law enforcement grant, The Rocky Mountain 
Information Network, has been invaluable in combating the narcotics 
problem in the county. Since 2001, the grant has provided $5,000 a 
year to be used for narcotic buys, paying informants and funding 
undercover stings.

"We work the street-level dealers, but we'll also take you to jail if 
we catch you with a (drug) pipe," said Deputy Chris Miller.

Despite its limited resources, the narcotics team made its largest 
drug bust in January. A three-month investigation led to the arrest 
an illegal alien who officers said headed a meth-distribution ring. 
They also arrested male and female dealers and traffickers ages 45 to 
60, and recovered $36,500 worth of meth.

During a recent search of a motorcycle group's clubhouse in Fernley 
and of some of its associates' residences, deputies found meth along 
with marijuana, paraphernalia and firearms.

Most problems in Fernley

During its five-year existence, the narcotics division has conducted 
703 investigations, served 164 search warrants, arrested 668 people 
and recovered drugs that had a street value of more than $1.1 
million. It's also seized more than $212,000 in drug money.

Most of the drug complaints investigated originated from Fernley, 
with Mason Valley ranking second and Silver Springs third. Fernley 
residents also topped drug arrests, with Silver Springs second and 
Mason Valley third.

Out of all the drugs seized the last five years, methamphetamine is 
tops behind marijuana in terms of volume: About 8 pounds of meth was 
recovered compared to 116.2 pounds of marijuana.

The unit during the past five years also found 12 meth labs, 
including three active ones. During the last six months of 2003 and 
January 2004, five labs were found.

Miller said even the county's children are being victimized. Children 
of meth users, he said, usually live in squalor with no supervision.

"A 12-year-old after one of my meth presentations came up to me and 
said their parents have pipes like the ones I showed them," he said. 
"The parents are awake 72 hours and pull out (car) engines in their 
living rooms. Food is spoiled and animal feces are everywhere.

"They let their kids be exposed to other users) it's a God awful mess."

Deputy Matt Roman added that it's not just unemployed and uneducated 
people getting arrested for using and selling meth.

"Professional people are getting involved with the stuff," he said.

In 2002, the wife of a Lyon County deputy was arrested on charges she 
possessed meth and provided the drug to a juvenile.

Same problems as elsewhere

The rural Lyon County meth problem mirrors larger communities' problems.

"Our problems are the same as Reno, just on a smaller scale," Miller 
said. "But we have just as many. If you walk across the street to the 
casino, I can point out five people who are using."

Besides not having enough deputies on his team, Sherlock said another 
downfall in fighting meth in Lyon County is the lack of highway drug 
interdiction. Interstate 80 and Highways 95 and 40 are major roads 
through the county.

"They're not being monitored enough," he said. "We are missing a 
whole lot, millions (of dollars worth of drugs). Dope comes from one 
way and travels down another."

But even more deputies might not eliminate the problem.

"Everyone is trying to find the answer to the meth problem," he said. 
"No one knows what it is. It's difficult. We go out and talk to kids 
and tell them the dangers and they go home and their parents are smoking meth.

"That's who they're looking up to, not us."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman