METH LOSING GROUND IN NC

Report: 40% Fewer Labs Found in State This Year Than in '05

Two new reports released yesterday suggest that North Carolina is
winning the battle against methamphetamine, even as some urban areas
along the East Coast are reporting an increase in its use.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper released figures that said that the
state found 40 percent fewer meth labs between Jan. 15 and Nov. 28 of
this year, compared with the same time period last year.

Law-enforcement officials confiscated 283 labs in 2005, compared with
172 to date in 2006, the report said.

"Fighting meth means rooting out labs and cutting the flow of drugs
into our state," Cooper said in a press release announcing the
findings. The White House also released a report that noted a 27
percent drop in the number of North Carolina meth-lab seizures from
Jan. 15 through April 30, compared with the same period in 2005. The
number of lab seizures nationwide was down significantly as well.

The report, "Pushing Back Against Meth," also looked at workplace
drug-testing data to gauge the use of amphetamines, including meth.
It said that last year in North Carolina, 11 percent fewer workers
tested positive for amphetamine use. But use of the drug is up in
many areas along the East Coast, including Washington, Maryland, New
York and Connecticut. Justice Department officials cite mostly
anecdotal evidence showing that meth use and cooking labs are
spreading to inner cities. They say that's in part because drug
traffickers, largely from Mexico, are now selling meth to cocaine and
heroin customers in urban areas.

Also, they say, many East Coast states don't have state laws that
require cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine - the ingredient
used to cook meth with other household chemicals - to be placed
behind pharmacy counters. North Carolina enacted such a law in January.

Federal law, which went into effect in September, regulates the
display and limits sales of pseudoephedrine-containing products. Both
North Carolina and federal law require that stores log all sales of
products containing pseudoephedrine.

As a result of the laws, North Carolina counties that had reported
high levels of meth production saw sharp decreases. For example, in
2005, the State Bureau of Investigation reported 61 meth-lab seizures
in McDowell County - the highest of any in the state. In 2006, the
number is at 25. Locally, there were no lab seizures in Yadkin,
Surry, Wilkes, and Stokes counties in 2006, compared with 12 among
the four counties in 2005. Watauga County saw a decrease in meth-lab
seizures from 16 to seven, and Davidson County saw a decrease from 10
in 2005 to one so far in 2006. "It's a good law and it's really
helped us," said Sheriff Dane Mastin of Wilkes County, who said he
has noticed a decrease not just in lab production but also in users as well.

The drop in North Carolina mirrors similar drops in other states that
have recently enacted legislation curbing the availability of
products used to make the drug.

Virginia, for example, has seen a 76 percent decline in meth-lab
seizures over the past year, and a 16 percent decrease in positive
workplace testing, according to the White House report.

Virginia, which enacted its own state anti-meth law this year, does
not limit the amount that can be bought in a month like North
Carolina, but it does require that the medication be placed behind a
counter, although not specifically a pharmaceutical counter.

Tennessee has seen a 56 percent decline in meth-lab busts, but did
see a modest1 percent increase in the amount of positive workplace
tests. Its law, like North Carolina's, is more strict than federal
law. It went into effect more than 18 months ago.