Fear For The Future

METHAMPHETAMINE ARRESTS SHOW A SCARY DRUG TREND IN ALABAMA

Law enforcement agencies ask this question: Are officers arresting more
methamphetamine manufacturers because it's an illegal growth industry or
because the officers have stronger laws to help them crack down harder?

A Tuscaloosa County assistant district attorney, who has seen the number of
meth lab cases in his county increase from nine in 2001 to 86 so far this
year, thinks it may be a little bit of both. (A similar increase was
reported in DeKalb County. A total of 49 labs have been raided so far this
year; 46 were busted all of last year.)

The Tuscaloosa official may not be able to pinpoint what's sparking the
exponential increase in the drug known as "crank," but he's adamant in his
belief that what's driving the proliferation of meth labs is the Internet,
where easy-to-make recipes for the insidious drug abound.

All that's true as far as it goes. But something other than supply has made
meth labs explode statewide. There's also demand. A lot of people obviously
want to use the drug.

That's scary, because "meth heads" don't think clearly. They become
paranoid on the drug. And they become violent. The recent tragedy in Grant
that claimed the life of that town's beloved police chief has been linked
to the alleged methamphetamine abuse of his assailants.

Traffickers may sell in Huntsville and other big Alabama cities, but they
usually manufacture it in rural areas. Meth labs require privacy because
their tell-tale odor is so pronounced. Some criminal entrepreneurs try to
mix the volatile chemicals in campers traveling the highways, which is
foolhardy.

That's because meth isn't menacing for its addictive properties alone. Its
manufacture, which doesn't take a trained chemist, is also volatile. Lab
explosions are common. From the get-go, it's a truly dangerous drug. Does
this information worry you?

If you think the arrests are stemming the tide of crank, then it will be
the first time in the undeclared "drug war" that police action has made a
substantial inroad into trafficking and abuse. You also have to be alarmed
that law enforcement authorities say their resources are already so
strapped that they can't adequately interdict meth sales.

Consider the words of Tuscaloosa County prosecutor Eddie Alley: "(Meth) is
going to be bigger than crack. It's going to be more devastating and more
deadly."

Community disaster

Easy to make, easy to market. What a recipe for individual and community
disaster.

Obviously, accurate anti-drug information and counseling, intervention and
law enforcement must work together to try to prevent and to help addicts -
and to arrest those who profit from their addiction.

So far, unfortunately, we've just seen a glimpse of a possible future that
no rational person wants to have to face.