TAFT TARGETING METHAMPHETAMINE LABS FOR CRACKDOWN

DAYTON, Ohio (Associated Press) -- Methamphetamine, the drug Gov. Bob Taft
targeted in his State of the State speech, is considered by the Drug
Enforcement Administration to be the fastest-growing drug threat in the nation.

Experts say the drug has been gaining popularity because it is potent and
cheap and easy to make. Authorities worry also about the threat to officers
and the environment from the chemicals used to create the drug.

In the past four months, the DEA has busted 27 meth labs in Ohio compared
to only 18 in the previous 12 months.

"Law enforcement officials are seizing record amounts of meth and seeing an
alarming surge in the number of labs that produce it,'' Taft told the
Legislature in his State of the State address Wednesday. "I ask you to join
me in enacting laws to fight this illicit drug and to attack these toxic
labs.''

But some lawmakers think other drugs should get more attention.

"We continue to have a huge problem with heroin in our cities,'' said Rep.
Jack Ford, D-Toledo, the House's top-ranking Democrat. "Crack is still a
problem. Alcohol use, particularly among middle-class girls, is increasing,
and binge drinking on our Ohio campuses is at an epidemic level. Yet, no
discussion of that.''

Rep. Peter Lawson Jones, D-Shaker Heights, said not one of his constituents
has brought up the problem of meth.

"I must confess that although I've heard conversations about this drug in
the past, from my perspective crack and illegal cocaine use tend to be the
major problems,'' he said.

Harvey Siegal, director of the Centers for Intervention, Treatment and
Addiction Research at Wright State University, predicted that meth use will
become a big problem in Ohio within a year.

"It is so far not a major, major problem in the state, but there is no
question in my mind it is coming,'' Siegal said Friday.

Wright State and the University of Akron operate the Ohio Substance Abuse
Monitoring Network of people who report on drug use in their areas to
create an early warning system.

Siegal said stimulant drugs have been increasing in popularity and that the
boom in meth use has been moving east from the West Coast, coming at Ohio
like a wave.

"This stuff is easy to make,'' he said. "That means small entrepreneurs can
get in. And the effects are longer lasting than cocaine.''

Meth, which is usually in the form of a powder, a rock or a powder with
little chunks of crystals, can be swallowed, snorted, smoked or injected.
It also is known on the streets as speed, ice, crystal, chalk, glass, crank
and go-fast.

Users report a euphoria within five minutes, with the feeling lasting
several hours. Side effects can include nervousness, hallucinations and
even psychotic behavior. As the drug wears off, fatigue or depression can
set in.

A former meth addict who spoke on condition of anonymity said the drug
makes it feel like there's an electric current shooting through the body.

"There's this incredible, almost agitated state of energy. You can't sit
still,'' he said. "There's a lot of craziness, doing risky behavior. And
there's a good deal of paranoia that runs with it too. I would be up for
days and finally get to the point where I absolutely needed to sleep.''

When the drug wears off, he said, it leaves an "evil mood.''

"You're just irritable as hell,'' he said.

Meth is a man-made drug produced by cooking commonly available chemicals.
The process generates dangerous substances that can dissolve flesh and
fumes so toxic they can collapse lungs. The fumes soak into walls,
ceilings, carpeting and furniture.

Over the past few years, agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Identification and Investigation have undergone training to protect
themselves in searching labs for evidence. And for cleanup, the labs are
treated the same as hazardous-waste sites.

"Some of these can be cancer-causing chemicals,'' said Heidi Griesmer,
spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. "And for every
pound of meth that is generated, 6 pounds of toxic or hazardous waste is
generated and that is often just dumped.''

In the past six months, the Warren County drug task force in southwest Ohio
has busted three meth labs and arrested nine people.

John Burke, director of the task force, said labs can be set up in motel
rooms or even semitrailers. But since the smell of chemicals can arouse the
suspicion of neighbors, farmhouses are popular places for labs.

It is currently a felony to make or possess meth. Burke favors toughening
the penalties to keep users and traffickers off the streets longer and to
discourage others from getting involved with meth. He also favors
stiffening penalties for stealing anhydrous ammonia, a farm fertilizer used
as an ingredient in meth.

Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin, R-Aurora, chair of the House criminal-justice
committee, said she expects anti-meth legislation to be introduced soon.

"Given evidence that this is an increasing problem and we want to forestall
its spread in Ohio, I think the Legislature will act on it,'' she said.