Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jul 2006
Source: Enid News & Eagle (OK)
Copyright: Enid News & Eagle 2006
Contact:  http://www.enidnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2012
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

STATE POSTS BIGGEST DECREASE IN METH LABS IN NATION

The number of meth labs raided, found abandoned or dumped in Oklahoma 
decreased 67.5 percent from 2004 to 2005, the biggest drop in the 
country, a report by Drug Enforcement Agency indicates.

An Oklahoma law that went into effect in April 2004, since followed 
by at least 37 other states, restricted the sale of cold tablets 
containing pseudoephedrine, which is used to make methamphetamine.

The report released by DEA's El Paso Intelligence Center shows drug 
lab numbers in Oklahoma fell from 1,058 in 2003 to 667 in 2004 and to 
217 in 2005.

A federal law regulating sales of the over-the-counter drug is set to 
take effect Sept. 30.

"There was this initial shock when our labs dropped in the first 
month by 40 percent and by 60 percent after two months," said Mark 
Woodward, spokesman for Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous 
Drugs Control.

As Oklahoma's border states passed similar laws, the effects became 
more pronounced, as the inflow of large quantities of pseudoephedrine 
essentially dried up, Woodward said.

This year, 71 methamphetamine labs have been seized by police in 
Oklahoma, compared with 217 last year, said Tom Cunningham, drug task 
force coordinator for Oklahoma District Attorneys Council.

Many of the labs being seized now are not operational, Woodward said.

"They tell us, 'Yeah, I have the glassware and the chemicals, but I 
can't get the pills,"' Woodward said.

Enid Police Department Lt. Dean Grassino said the department has seen 
significant drops in the number of meth labs since the passage of the 
state's pseudo law.

"In 2003, we had 32. In 2004, we had 10, and that was about a 68 
percent decrease," he said. "In 2005, we had 11 labs, and in 2006 
we've had one."

The decline in use of meth, though, has not been so dramatic.

A study conducted by one of the nation's largest drug-screening 
providers, Quest Diagnos-tics, found a decline of more than 10 
percent in job applicants testing positive for methamphetamine in the 
first five months of 2006, Cunningham said.

Nationally, Quest Diagnostics found 31 percent fewer job applicants 
tested positive for methamphetamine during the first five months of 
2006, compared with 2005.

Almost as soon as Oklahoma's methamphetamine production began to lag, 
Mexican drug cartels had flooded the state with a more-refined, 
much-costlier form of the drug, often referred to as ice.

Grassino said most, if not all, of the meth his department sees 
likely is imported.

"Almost all the meth we're seeing is of the crystal variety," 
Grassino said. "I'd venture to say almost all of it is imported."

Passage of Oklahoma's pseudoephedrine law also has resulted in a 
decrease in the number of thefts of raw ingredients used in the 
production of meth, such as anhydrous ammonia.

"Has it all stopped? No, but we definitely have seen decreases in 
those types of thefts," the Grassino said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman