Pubdate: Mon, 21 Jan 2008
Source: Weatherford Democrat (US TX)
Copyright: 2008, The Weatherford Democrat
Contact:  http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2881
Author: Phil Riddle
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH MENACE

Not A Homegrown Problem Anymore

It's not just here.

Law enforcement agencies in small towns and rural  settings across the
state have been slammed with the  ever-growing manufacture and
relative easy availability  of methamphetamine.

Previous research showed the problem centered around  clandestine
manufacturing labs in largely unpopulated  areas.

That's not the case any more.

The menace has gone international.

Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler, who has seen his  share of
fly-by-night drug operations, said the  manufacture of meth in small
rural labs had an easy  explanation.

"Less eyeballs," he said.

However, Fowler said when the legislature clamped down  on the
purchase of pseudoephedrine over the counter a  few years back, large
labs in Texas' rural areas all  but ceased operation.

"It takes 1,000 capsules of pseudoephedrine to make one  ounce of
meth," he said. "That makes it hard to come up  with enough of it to
manufacture huge quantities."

Fowler said there are a few networks that spread out  and go to drug
stores all over the Metroplex and buy  all the main ingredient they
can get, but most of law  enforcement's headaches over meth are no
longer  homegrown.

"There are still small labs around," he said. "We can  handle those.
Now people can't just walk into Wal-Mart  and get an arm load of
pseudoephedrine to make meth."

He said the real threat comes from what he calls  "superlabs" located
south of the border.

"Ice from Mexico is what's prevalent," Fowler said.  "It's coming
across our borders by the ton. Unless the  government gets serious
about securing our borders,  this is a problem we're going to have
forever."

Recent data would indicate the Parker County sheriff  hit the nail
right on the head.

According to a Public Broadcasting Service Report from  2006, the
United States Drug Enforcement Agency says 65  percent of all meth
consumed in the country comes from  Mexican drug cartels, more than
half from superlabs in  Mexico and 12 percent from Mexican-run
superlabs in the  United States.

The report adds Mexico imported more than 224 tons of  pseudoephedrine
in 2004, mostly from India, Germany and  China. The total import of
the decongestant is about  twice what the country needs to ward off
the effects of  colds and allergies.

A New York Times editorial from Aug. 2, 2007, parroted  what Fowler
said -- Mexican meth manufacturers have all  but replaced American
versions of the drug.

The editorial says southwest border seizures of  imported meth
increased from just over 2,700 pounds in  2003, to more than 4,300
pounds in 2005, while the  number of labs seized nationwide fell by
almost 50  percent during the same time frame.

"The shift of the meth supply is changing the American  market for
illegal substances," editorial writer  Eduardo Porter said. "The
National Drug Intelligence  Center reports that nearly 40 percent of
state and  local law enforcement officials nationwide say meth now
represents the greatest drug threat to their areas."

While the manufacture of methamphetamine may have been  moved south of
the border, illicit use of the bootleg  stimulant remains a problem in
America's small towns.

According to a 2006 report from the South Carolina  Rural Health
Research Center, teens in small towns in  that state run a
significantly greater risk of using  drugs than either suburban or
urban young people. More  specifically, the proportion of rural teens
who  reported using meth was almost double that of their  counterparts
in urban and suburban settings.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal voiced the frustrations  of politicians,
parents, clergy and law enforcement  officials nationwide.

"It doesn't matter where we go in the state,"  Freudenthal said,
"methamphetamine is there. The whole  issue is eating us alive."

Even Native American populations are reporting  increased use on
reservations. In 1997, hospitals run  by the Indian Health Service
treated fewer than 150  people for stimulant abuse. By 2004, the
number had  ballooned to almost 5,000.

A 2006 report by the Carsey Institute notes what local  police and
sheriff's deputies have feared. Our small  towns have been invaded.

"Rates of meth use were fairly comparable for rural and  urban
Americans until 2003," the report states, "when  differences seemed to
emerge."

Researchers for the report, Substance Abuse in Rural  America, found
young adults' use of meth jumped by  almost a third in the six-year
period that ended in  2006.

Fowler adds drug use locally contributes mightily to  the overall
crime rate. He maintains illicit drugs are  responsible for more than
90 percent of all crimes  committed.

A recent Parker County Grand Jury returned 27  indictments, according
to Fowler, and 24 were based on  illegal drug use.

"It effects everything," he said. "We get calls for  domestic
violence, theft, burglary, and they all boil  down to drug use."
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath