Source: Examiner, The (Ireland) Contact: Fri, 03 Apr 1998 Author: Brian Carroll US POLICE URGE BATTLE ON DRUGS AT LOCAL LEVEL IRISH drug officers are concerned about a possible epidemic of crack cocaine and meth-amphetamine, the poor man's cocaine, here. Concerns arise about the devastation such drugs have caused in the United States and their creeping invasion into Britain and Europe. To date, nine illegal laboratories have been raided by British drug officers who found organised criminals attempting to manufacture meth-amphetamine for distribution in the UK. Six weeks ago Irish drug officers discovered 40,000 tablets of that drug in Clontarf in what was alarmingly the first ever major seizure of the drug here. The head of the Garda National Drugs Unit, Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty, warned yesterday that cocaine, which used to be the preserve of the wealthy, is now becoming much more available to the masses in Ireland and that ecstasy and speed are available at "almost every cross-roads in the country." There is a danger that crack cocaine will be the next new drug on the Irish market, along with meth-amphetamine which is sometimes known as crank. In America crack caused incredible devastation on the East Coast, resulting in whole parts of New York becoming no-go ghettos. Over on the West Coast crank caused social chaos. Because it was cheap, readily available and could induce highs that lasted over 20 times as long as a hit from cocaine. Ten dollars could buy you one tenth of a gram and within seven seconds of snorting it you would get an eight-hour high. Crank addicts have gone on binges that allow them to go without sleep for 15 days, detectives describe crank as the poor man's cocaine. Easy to produce and giving a much stronger high, crack and crank are attractive propositions for international drug dealers. The international bible for drug production now is Alexander Shulgin's PIHKAL - A Chemical Love Story. Shulgin's book contains formulas for making 179 different kinds of Ecstasy. He has been described as the Delia Smith of the drugs world. Les Fiander, a London Metropolitan Police officer with the National Criminal Intelligence Service, warned Irish drug officers yesterday that this book is been found in raids on illegal drug manufacturing plants all over England. It is available on the Internet also and drug users are now using this medium to consult with each other about manufacturing problems. The worry now is that Irish criminal gangs will start to follow suit and begin manufacturing crack and crank here using Shulgin's chemical recipes. The only intelligence to date of a drug manufacturing culture here came when the Garda's Operation Barbie discovered two Ecstasy manufacturing laboratories in Dublin. Because Ecstasy can now be imported at #2 a tab from Amsterdam, drug officers believe the market is too favourable now for drug dealers to risk manufacturing E tabs themselves. However, tablets are the coming thing, and the biggest buzz and profits come with crack and crank. Low cost production, coupled with massive profits, is an attractive proposition for organised criminals but a cocktail which could have unimaginable social consequences here. NYPD Deputy Inspector, Tom Dale, warned yesterday: "You have cocaine here so if they are able to transform cocaine into crack, you're going to have trouble because it's extremely addictive and that's what caused New York to burn down in the mid-80's. We are only recovering from that disaster now." "Local communities have got to get involved. If you target it now you can stop it before it comes," Inspector Dale said. Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty agrees: "What we want to do is raise awareness. We don't have a problem with crack or meth-ampethamine as yet, but we want people to know that threat exists. Whole communities have been devastated in the US, we have to learn from that. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure."