METH USERS MAY BE SOURCING DRUG FROM OUTSIDE

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- While the number of methamphetamine labs appears
to be falling in Alaska, the amount seized has skyrocketed, leading
officials to believe that users of the addictive drug may be turning
to sources outside the state.

Authorities seized 62 meth labs in Alaska in 2004, but the number
fell to 45 the following year, federal Drug Enforcement Agency
officer Harvey Goehring said.

The amount of meth seized statewide more than tripled during the same
period, from 646 grams in 2004 to 2,292 grams in 2005.

The numbers suggest that Alaska meth users may be turning to
large-scale meth suppliers Outside, according to a panel of experts
at a forum at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Three months ago, for example, DEA agents in Anchorage seized a FedEx
package from California containing $1 million worth of meth, or 11 pounds.

Goehring and others at the forum said there is anecdotal evidence
that meth is reaching village youths in the Bush because the drug is
perceived as easier to buy and longer-lasting than cocaine.

Meth labs in the state are still a cause for concern, however,
because the chemicals used in making meth can literally burn through flesh.

Chemicals circulating in home meth labs can easily infect everyone in
a family, including small children, said Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, a
family practitioner with Providence Matanuska Health Care in Wasilla.

According to DEA statistics, between a third and a half of the meth
labs in Alaska have children in the home at the time of a drug bust.
And up to 80 percent of the kids who've been tested within two hours
check positive for meth in their urine.

Another growing concern is lingering contamination in homes and outdoors.

"Meth labs have been found almost anyplace you can think of,"
Baldwin-Johnson said. "We've had meth labs dumped in public parks.
We've had them discovered in hotels and motels. We had a guy who
created a meth lab in a Ford van that he buried in his back yard."

The cost of cleaning up meth labs in Alaska has cost the DEA $750,000
since 2002, according to the agency's records.

Two laws to crack down on meth have been passed in the past few years.

One requires landlords to meet state standards for removing meth
contamination from their properties before they are occupied again.
The properties are listed on the state Department of Environmental
Conservation Web site.

The second limits the amount of non-prescription cold medicines
containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine that can be purchased over
the counter and requires retailers to maintain a logbook of buyers.
It also increases sentences on people convicted of operating meth
labs with children present.

Information from: Anchorage Daily News