METH USE, PRODUCTION A GROWING ADDICTION

Number Of Drug Labs Seized Skyrocketing

Methamphetamine crept into rural Illinois, but it's not creeping any longer.

"I think it would be getting to the epidemic stage," said Master Sgt. Bruce
Liebe of the Illinois State Police, who spent the last three years on loan
to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, seizing meth labs.

"When we first started getting labs in 1997, we'd get about one or two a
month. Now it's not uncommon to get three or four a week. If we continue at
the pace we're at, the projection will be over 400 this year."

Meth goes by a lot of street names - "speed," "crank," "ice," zip,"
"cristy." But perhaps the best nickname for meth describes both its users
and its effects: "blue-collar cocaine."

"Typically the person 'cooking' more often than not is male, white - and
unemployed, because meth has become the most important thing in their
lives," Liebe said. "Their whole world revolves around making and taking
meth. They suffer severe weight loss and become a mere shadow of what they
used to be."

Meth use and production have been serious problems in California for years.
In the mid-1990s, the drug became popular in Missouri. Eventually, it
worked its way across that state until Missouri was saturated with it.
That's when meth crossed the Mississippi River into western Illinois.

In 1997, authorities turned up 24 meth labs in Illinois, 11 of them in
Adams County, where Quincy is located. Most of the rest were in four
counties at the southwestern tip of the state. In 1998, there were 87
seizures, the majority still in Adams County.

But last year, the number of meth labs seized by authorities jumped to 246,
including 56 in east-central Illinois' Coles County and Jackson County in
southern Illinois. So far this year, Coles and Jackson counties have
continued to lead the tally of meth lab busts.

What is the drug's appeal in rural areas? Liebe believes it's a combination
of factors.

"The appeal is the source of supply," he said. "You can purchase all the
ingredients locally. And if you're producing the kind that uses anhydrous
ammonia, it can easily be stolen in rural areas. You're your own source of
your supply.

"The problem with meth is that's very, very addictive."

Liebe said people who smoke methamphetamine can become addicted in six
weeks. Those who ingest it can get hooked after just one use.

In all the cases Liebe has investigated, only twice can he recall someone
actually stopping meth use because of an arrest and then staying off the
drug. In most cases, addicts will quit while in jail, but will inevitably
be arrested again upon their release.

"The same names appear again and again. I've seen it throughout the state.
If he or she is free on bond, they're out cooking again. It's not uncommon
to seize two or more labs from the same person." Meth is not only
addictive, its production is dangerous.

Take, for example, a case in Christian County earlier this fall. About 5
a.m. Oct. 2, an explosion rocked a home at 207 N. John St. in Pana,
sparking a fire at the rear of the residence. When authorities arrived,
they discovered evidence of a meth lab.

Two men later showed up at a hospital for treatment of their burns, both
claiming they had been injured in separate car fires about the same time as
the explosion. Police expect to bring charges against the two.

"In California, they believe one in six labs is discovered because of a
fire," Liebe said. "Not only do you see things such as what happened in
Pana, but it's not uncommon for a cook to tell us he's been involved in
several fires that he put out himself."

The most common method of meth production in Illinois uses anhydrous
ammonia, an extremely volatile chemical, but one that is easy to find in
rural Illinois because it's a common fertilizer. Although dangerous, it's
also very easy to make meth.

"It's no different than you or I pulling a cake recipe off the Internet,"
Liebe said. "I can't explain the physics aspects of, say, a cake rising. I
just know how to follow directions. They (meth manufacturers) do the same
thing. Because they don't understand chemistry, they don't understand why
things go wrong."

The drug has a long history. Its base - a substance called ephedra - dates
back to ancient times, when it was used to alleviate cold symptoms.

In 1919, a Japanese chemist synthesized methamphetamine. During World War
II, both the Japanese and Germans used meth because of its powerful
stimulant effects. People could work more hours, fly longer missions. In
fact, the type of meth manufactured most commonly in Illinois is called
"Nazi dope."

In addition to anhydrous ammonia, meth can be produced using red phosphorus
or other substances. Cold tablets, alcohol, ether, paint thinner, Epsom
salts, Drano and the like sometimes are used in meth manufacture. People
can smoke, inject, snort, drink or eat meth.

Items needed to make the drug can be assembled to create a laboratory so
small it could fit into a trunk cooler. Some production plants are
traveling labs that are kept in cars.

Liebe said many of the labs police originally found in Adams County were
discovered along the river bottoms, where people believed no one would
become suspicious of the chemical smells emanating from their activities.

"With regard to labs being found in rural areas, it's almost a misnomer,"
he said. "We do get some labs in the country, but the majority are within a
residential area, with other homes around. It's more common to seize a lab
in a neighborhood.

"It amazes me when the neighbors are shocked," Liebe said.

He advises people to be aware of strange activity in their neighborhoods
and odd smells, such as ammonia and ether.

When labs are seized, police have to call in hazardous-material teams to
retrieve evidence and check the scene. For every pound of the drug that's
made, six pounds of hazardous waste are produced.

Drug experts also have an explanation for why meth production is rare in
the Chicago area.

"What the DEA has observed nationwide is that, if there is a ready source
and relatively inexpensive supply of cocaine, it's hard for meth to take
over," Liebe said.

"People are creatures of habit."