Pubdate: Thu, 03 Dec 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Laura Duffy
Note: Duffy is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of 
California, which covers San Diego and Imperial counties.

DEALING WITH SAN DIEGO'S GROWING METH PROBLEM

We all remember the days when El Cajon was dubiously labeled the 
world's crystal meth capital for its many clandestine labs. These 
small-scale operations in motor homes, trailers and apartments cooked 
up a product that was about 50 percent pure, sometimes even less. And 
it was expensive.

Those days are all but forgotten now, dwarfed by a new phenomenon. 
Today's meth is manufactured in huge quantities in giant warehouses 
in Mexico known as "Super Labs," which are supplied by Asian chemical 
distributors and staffed by university-educated chemists and engineers.

These days, San Diego U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are 
seizing thousands of pounds of the most potent, least expensive 
methamphetamine we've ever seen. Its purity is at 96 percent or 
higher, and prices are lower than ever - about $2,800 per pound 
compared to $8,000 to $10,000 a pound just two years ago.

In 2015, methamphetamine is one of the most vexing and troubling drug 
problems facing our community and country. Today's meth poses a 
quadruple threat: It is extremely pure, inexpensive, highly addictive 
and widely available.

Due to our location, this district is the nation's primary gateway 
for Mexican methamphetamine. Creative traffickers smuggle their drugs 
by land, sea and air, using body carriers, vehicles, tunnels, jet 
skis, drones and superlight aircraft. The majority of the narcotics 
cases my office prosecutes involve methamphetamine.

We seized 45 percent more meth in California than the other three 
border-states - Arizona, New Mexico and Texas - combined. Between 
2009 and 2014, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a 300 
percent increase in the amount of meth seized at California's ports of entry.

We need to reverse this trend. I am committed to working with 
Department of Justice officials in Mexico to reinforce ways we can 
collaborate, share intelligence, track and seize precursor chemicals 
and disrupt synthetic drug labs in Mexico. In addition, federal and 
local law enforcement officers have stepped up efforts to closely 
assess local drug trends and collaborate on worthy targets. 
Prosecutors in my office are devoting additional analysis, more 
scrutiny and heightened investigative resources to key meth cases. 
These efforts are designed to find common threads and patterns that 
will enable us to prosecute the meth traffickers.

But because we cannot prosecute our way out of this problem, we also 
need to focus on the demand side. Far too many law enforcement, court 
and health care workers have heart-wrenching stories that feature 
meth as the wrecking ball. And in addition to anecdotes, we have 
frightening stats.

As noted in the Meth Strike Force's 2015 report card, meth-related 
deaths and arrests are up significantly in the last five years. Since 
2010, the San Diego County medical examiner ruled that meth was a 
factor in 1,074 deaths. The rate of meth-related deaths per 100,000 
people has spiked from 5.6 to 8.2 in that time.

The meth "grim reaper" does not discriminate. In 2014, the youngest 
meth-related death was a 17-year-old female who committed suicide, 
and the oldest was a 70-year-old woman who died of heart disease with 
methamphetamine toxicity. She was one of a literal "Silver Tsunami" 
of aging users whose bodies can no longer withstand the powerful meth 
being manufactured today.

Meth-related emergency-room visits have also increased 141 percent in 
the last four years. According to the San Diego Association of 
Governments (SANDAG), 40 percent of male and 53 percent of female 
arrestees are testing positive for meth, with the latter rate 
representing a 15-year high. Fortunately, the Meth Strike Force, 
county health officials and medical professionals are actively 
collaborating to maximize addiction screening, intervention, and treatment.

The federal law enforcement community is also committed to playing a 
role in prevention, particularly when it comes to preventing drug 
traffickers from recruiting young people to smuggle narcotics. 
Hundreds of youth have been recruited in the last decade, with the 
youngest just 9 years old.

In response, the Department of Homeland Security created an outreach 
program to educate minors and their families about the dangers and 
the consequences of smuggling. The results are impressive: The number 
of juveniles arrested for smuggling has been cut in half since the 
program began, from 165 in the 2012-2013 time period to 85 last year.

San Diego's methamphamine problem calls for a whole community 
response. Both within and outside of law enforcement, we are thinking 
strategically, setting precise goals and working with a wide range of 
stakeholders with the goal of significantly reducing the tragic 
impact of meth on this community.

We cannot prosecute our way out of this problem, we also need to 
focus on the demand side. Far too many people have heart-wrenching 
stories that feature meth as the wrecking ball.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom