'Meth'-ology, Part 1

'METH'-OLOGY

New Wave Of Methamphetamine 'Getting Huge'

An old drug has crept its way back into society and ensnared thousands.
Some are willing participants, stepping into the web to feed the hunger
that creates drug addicts. While others are innocent bystanders, such as
family members, who become trapped by the creature known as -- methamphetamine.

This drug, also called crystal, crank and dozens of other names, is on the
rise and continues to move its way into the Tennessee Valley.

"This (methamphetamine) has moved its way east, and even into some urban
settings," said U.S. Rep. Zack Wamp, R-Tenn.

Throughout the Southeast, there were 1,116 meth labs seized between January
1999 and July 2001. Tennessee led the region with 510 labs seized followed
by Mississippi with 222; Alabama, 192; Georgia, 89; Florida, 53; Louisiana,
27; North Carolina, 13; and South Carolina, 10.

"Meth is not a new drug. It is the new wave," said Bradley County Sheriff's
Department Det. Brian Quinn. "And it is getting huge in this area."

In the 1930s, amphetamine was marketed as Benzedrine in an over-the-counter
inhaler to treat nasal congestion (for asthmatics, hay fever sufferers, and
people with colds). The drug was used and abused by non-asthmatics looking
for a high. Then, by 1937 amphetamine was available by prescription in
tablet form.

"Meth was discovered in Japan in 1919. Then, during World War II, the drug
was used to keep the soldiers pumped up," said Quinn.

In Japan, intravenous meth abuse reached epidemic proportions immediately
after World War II, when supplies stored for military use became available
to the public.

In the United States in the 1950s, legally manufactured tablets of both
dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) and meth (Methedrine) became readily
available and were used nonmedically by college students, truck drivers and
athletes.

Now individuals are finding ways to produce the drug themselves. Since meth
is easy and cheap to produce, and unlike drugs such as marijuana and
cocaine -- much of which must be imported -- meth is easily manufactured
domestically with items such as acetone, ephedrine or pseudoephedrine,
lithium, sodium hydroxide, ether, and anhydrous ammonia.

The illicit manufacture of meth by individuals can be accomplished in a
variety of ways, but is produced most commonly using the
ephedrine/pseudoephedrine reduction method. Large-scale production of meth
using this method is dependent on ready access to bulk quantities of
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, said reports from the National Drug
Intelligence Center.

"Meth trafficking and abuse in the United States have been on the rise over
the past few years," said Quinn. "Clandestine production accounts for
almost all of the meth trafficked and abused in the United States."

The Federal Government currently is preparing regulations to further reduce
the diversion of pharmaceutical products containing chemicals, such as
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, that can be used to produce illegal drugs.
It has consulted with corporations within the pharmaceutical industry to
develop a solution to the diversion problem that does not unduly restrict
the availability of these chemicals for legitimate use.

"We are finding the labs and breaking them up," said Quinn. "And we have a
zero tolerance policy for those who are caught."

Editor's note: The next article in the series will focus on the effects of
methamphetamine.