ROOM RUNNING OUT FOR DRUG STORAGE SPACE

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The Oklahoma Highway Patrol plans to build a
facility to house evidence seized in drug raids, a project that's
expected to be completed in October or September.

That can't come soon enough for the OHP.

"We are taking so many drugs off of the roadways in this state, the
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has run out of places to put
it," said Pete Norwood, spokesman for the OHP.

Normally, drugs confiscated by highway patrol troopers are taken to
the OSBI to be analyzed and stored. But the OSBI has notified other
law enforcement agencies that it will hold evidence for only up to
two years after that evidence has been analyzed, agency spokeswoman
Kym Koch said.

After that, the OSBI will return the evidence to the confiscating
agency or destroy it, Koch said.

During 2000, troopers seized 14,778 pounds of marijuana, compared
with 9,182 pounds the previous year, Norwood said. The highway patrol
also seized 485 pounds of cocaine, up from 331 pounds in 1999,
Norwood said.

Troopers seized 128 pounds of methamphetamine, an increase from 54
pounds seized the year before, Norwood said.

"There is more out there," Norwood said of the increased seizures.
"The drug problem is rising."

Part of the reason for increases in confiscations is an increase in
personnel assigned to the task, he said.

The OSBI is one of the few agencies that stores evidence after it has
been analyzed, Koch said. The OSBI lab is seeking accreditation with
the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, which has strict
regulations regarding evidence storage, she said.

"It is a very intense process," Koch said. "We have been working on
it for three years."