METH COULD BECOME NEXT BIG DRUG

It provides a longer high than cocaine and people can make it using items
commonly sold in stores

Recent local meth busts have Porter County police concerned. (Gregg
Gearhart/The Times)

The next big drug isn't being smuggled into the area from far-away places
like Columbia, it's being cooked up in homes throughout Porter County using
ingredients purchased from local stores.

It's methamphetamine, a drug that costs about the same as cocaine but
produces a longer-lasting high.

Meth makers and users stay in their own circles, so police haven't had much
success in busting meth labs locally. But Porter County Narcotics Unit
Coordinator Robert Taylor said a tip led to the confiscation of about
$10,000 worth of the drug from a Portage home.

"I was told more than once she (the suspect) was cooking it in her
bathtub," Taylor said.

Taylor hopes by asking people to watch out for the sights and smells of
meth production, people will turn on their neighbors and help clean up this
dangerous drug.

The ingredients of meth include the ephedrine found in over-the-counter
cold medicines, lithium from batteries and the farm chemical anhydrous
ammonia. If people see large quantities of items like torn-apart batteries
or cans of starter fluid, that's a sign of meth production.

The most common smells resulting from the cooking include an ether smell or
a strong cat urine smell.

The drug - also known as crank, ice and speed - was associated with biker
labs in California and Texas in the 1970s. It began showing up in southern
Indiana several years ago and has been spreading north ever since.

The number of Indiana labs seized has doubled each year, going from three
in 1994 to more than 100 in 1999.

In Porter County, police are bracing for an influx of meth. In the
meantime, heroin remains the biggest problem in Porter County, with several
young people overdosing in recent years. Cocaine and marijuana also remain
popular, and ecstasy is on the rise, according to Taylor.

But police know meth is around because of the occasional tip that comes in,
and because people on probation are failing drug tests because of it. And
1,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia -- an ingredient in meth -- was stolen
recently from a Porter County business.

Undercover officers continue to follow up all tips they receive, and Taylor
said he's driven around the county at night in an effort to detect the odor
given off by labs.

One reason why police are taking the meth problem so seriously is because
some users become violent on it. Prolonged abuse causes permanent brain
damage with symptoms mimicking paranoid schizophrenia.

"The people who are on it are usually crazy," Taylor said.

"In most cases, you don't realize the damage it's doing until too late."

Another problem with meth is making it results in highly toxic fumes and
waste products. It leaves homes, garages and storage sheds as toxic waste
sites. And there is an explosion risk.

"A change of temperature or a spark could set one of those off like
dynamite," Taylor said.

Anyone with tips about meth manufacturing, selling or using is asked to
call Taylor at 465-3629.