LAW CURBS METH LABS

Labs producing homemade methamphetamine may be dwindling in number,
thanks to restrictions the state put on cold medication about 13
months ago. If you want a cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine in
it now, you have to ask for it at the pharmacy counter and show
identification, and that has cramped the style of people who used to
cook up meth in their kitchens. Authorities have found 40 percent
fewer meth labs recently - a drop from 328 in 2005 to 197 last year.

That does not mean the problem of methamphetamine addiction has gone
away, unfortunately. Instead, as is often the way with illegal drugs,
new sources popped up as soon as the state started making life more
difficult for mom and pop dealers. Meth has gone big-time, with
out-of-state traffickers (and some outside the country) sending large
shipments into North Carolina. The dealers of cocaine and marijuana
have just diversified their product line, one State Bureau of
Investigation official told the News & Observer.

As long as there's a demand for a drug, someone will provide it.
Thanks to the easy availability of meth a few years ago, the state has
an abundance of people who are hooked on the strong stimulant - and
looking for a fresh supply.

Still, the pseudoephedrine restrictions have made some headway. The
small labs that have been squeezed out of the picture were the source
of big problems. Often, children lived in those homes and were
endangered by the toxic fumes produced in the process, which hurt
their lungs and skin. As meth makers moved on, they left contamination
behind that could be harmful to the next tenants. And meth lab
explosions were all too common during the small labs' heyday.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has made some requests of the General
Assembly to help take the battle against meth and other illegal drugs
to the next level: more SBI drug agents and a new crime lab in the
Piedmont Triad to provide quicker analysis of drug evidence.
Legislators should do what they can to help him.

Cooper also asks for community support in identifying drug traffickers
and users. His office is developing a guide that will outline warning
signs. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says signs of
methamphetamine use include:

* Agitation, excited speech, decreased appetite, increased physical
activity, dilated pupils, nausea and vomiting.

* Occasional episodes of sudden and violent behavior, intense
paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and bouts of insomnia.

* A tendency to compulsively clean and groom and repetitively
disassemble and sort objects.

It's not a pretty picture - and not one that's easily changed. North
Carolina has taken a step forward and needs to keep pushing on.