COUNTIES FIGHT NEW DRUG WAR: METHAMPHETAMINE

Unorthodox approaches to fighting the illegal drug trade are becoming
almost commonplace in the northern mountain counties.

A coroner was appointed last month in Avery County to investigate suspected
drug-overdose deaths. New terrorism laws are being used in Watauga County
against residents accused of concocting illegal drugs in their homes.

And N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper convened a summit with law
enforcement, prosecutors and others Thursday to work on a strategy to fight
the state's methamphetamine problem.

That same day, Buncombe County drug agents arrested five people on charges
of having chemicals used to make methamphetamine in a Weaverville home. The
people were accused of having 10 grams of the drug, according to arrest
warrants.

In Western North Carolina, an area besieged by the abuse of methamphetamine
- - a powerful stimulant that can be made with easy-to-purchase chemicals -
police and prosecutors haven't shied from experimenting with new
drug-fighting techniques.

"People want something done, and they want us to do something," said
District Attorney Jerry Wilson, the state prosecutor for Avery, Madison,
Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey counties.

The Problem

More than 50 percent of the illegal drug labs North Carolina police seized
this year were in Western North Carolina. Of those, 45 of 71 were in the 13
mountain counties located in the northwestern section of the state,
according to the State Bureau of Investigation.

Large amounts of methamphetamine also are imported into WNC. A federal Drug
Threat Assessment released in April 2003 by the National Drug Intelligence
Center noted most of the methamphetamine available here is actually
produced in Mexico, California and in the Southwestern states.

Statewide, 125 illegal labs were shut down from January through Sept. 15,
compared to 18 labs in 2000.

"We're seeing things all the way from the basic 'box labs' in the trunks of
cars, all the way up to some pretty sophisticated operations," said Charles
Moody, special agent in charge for the SBI's western district. "The skills
and materials needed are relatively simple."

Those materials include items like pseudophedrine, found in decongestants
like Sudafed, acetone, lithium from batteries and drain cleaner.

Methamphetamine labs pose a risk to neighbors because of the toxic and
potentially explosive chemicals produced, Cooper said. The cost of cleaning
up those chemicals after a lab is busted can range from $2,000 to $20,000,
according to the SBI. Agents who clean up the labs must wear costly
hazardous materials suits.

In August, U.S. Forest Service agents found a methamphetamine lab at a
campsite in Nantahala National Forest. In a criminal complaint filed in
federal court, agents said they saw two people making the drug in a tent
near a well-traveled road and a lake. They had a short shotgun with them.
One agent saw the people throwing something into the lake.

Cooper said that for every pound of methamphetamine produced, 5 to 6 pounds
of toxic waste are created.

Fighting Back

In July, Wilson attracted national attention after he charged a man with
two counts of manufacturing a nuclear or chemical weapon, a state statute
adopted following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, after the man was
arrested in connection with methamphetamine.

Prosecutors said police officers and firefighters who respond to calls
involving the drug are at risk of serious injury because of the dangers of
methamphetamine production.

Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe followed suit last month when he had a
Savannah community man charged with manufacturing a nuclear or chemical
weapon after that man was arrested in connection with making the potent
illegal drug in his home.

Wilson said the new law, which carries stiffer penalties than those charges
related to methamphetamine, fits the crime.

"Unlike any other illegal drug I have dealt with, you have the second
problem of the gas and deadly chemicals that are being produced," Wilson
said. "The law in our state that addresses that directly is the
chemical-weapons statute."

Some state defense lawyers have expressed skepticism about the new
meth-prosecution methods.

"It seems to me to be a real stretch of the imagination, that this would be
covered under the anti-terrorism law," said Wallace Harrelson, Guilford
County's public defender. "It seems to me that the anti-terrorism law was
designed with a specific purpose in mind, to prosecute people who are
threatening to hurt the safety of the general public."

After the methamphetamine summit, Cooper said pushing for new laws about
the drug's production could end up as part of a strategic plan to combat it.

"Everyone agrees that we need more appropriate laws to prosecute people who
manufacture these drugs," he said.

Lives Lost

Cooper announced last week another resource to help the victims of
methamphetamine use. The state received a grant from the U.S. Department of
Justice to start a program for children in homes with methamphetamine.

"We've had horrible situations where children . had to be removed from the
homes and the Department of Social Services have had to provide for them,"
Cooper said. "It's going to be a burden on the taxpaying public as well"

In Avery County, residents say the drug has cost the community more than
money. Some blame methamphetamine and other illegal drugs for several
deaths in the past half-year.

After seeing four death certificates listing a heart ailment as the cause
of death in otherwise healthy individuals who were in their 30s, Avery
County's register of deeds convinced the clerk of court to select a coroner
to investigate.

The clerk picked John Millan, a school resource officer with a 20-year
background in law enforcement. Commissioners must approve Millan's surety
bond before he can start his investigations. There are also questions about
whether changes to the state constitution in 1971 nullified coroners'
powers, and whether a clerk of court has the power to make such an appointment.

Avery County has not had a coroner in 15 years. Instead, as in all but 10
of North Carolina's 100 counties, medical examiners in Avery County
determine cause of death and whether the death was suspicious. Millan, who
plans to work for free and only during his time off from his high school
day job, has said he won't interfere with the medical examiner. He also
said his appointment is not an indication that other officials have fallen
short.

"They just don't have the legal recourses under North Carolina law to do
everything they need to do, and I'm hoping the power of the coroner will
help," Millan said.

Staff writer Jon Ostendorff and The Associated Press contributed to this
report.

(Sidebar) How it affects you Methamphetamine production creates toxic and
explosive chemicals that pose a danger to the public. Labs have been found
in houses, apartments, trunks of cars, national forest land and anywhere
people live, according to state Attorney General Roy Cooper.
Methamphetamine makers often carry weapons or booby-trap their labs. The
public often pays the costs of cleaning up the labs and taking care of
children taken from homes with methamphetamine. SOURCE: Attorney General
Roy Cooper.

How to help Avery County Sheriff Edward Gwyn said citizens can get involved
by supporting more resources for the Sheriffs Department and by supporting
the formation of an Avery County anti-drug task force. As with most
sheriffs departments, Gwyn, said, more deputies are needed. And, forming a
drug task force that involved the Sheriffs Department and police
departments in Avery County would help create a countywide flow of
information and a collaborative spirit. For more information, call the
Avery County Sheriffs Department at 733-2071.

Meth Facts

Type of drug: Amphetamine, or stimulant

Forms: Most often a dingy-colored powder, but sometimes crystals or small,
bright colored tablets

How it is used: Injected, snorted, smoked or swallowed as a pill

Nicknames: Meth, ice, crank, glass, poor mans cocaine

Users: Traditionally white male blue-collar workers, but use is increasing
among diverse groups, including people in occupations that demand long
hours, mental alertness and physical endurance During 2000, about 4 percent
of people in the United States reported trying methamphetamine at least
once in their life.

SOURCE: U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, National Institute on Drug Abuse