ASIAN DRUG INVADES CALIFORNIA

New Form Of Meth More Dangerous Than Ecstasy Pill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The newest drug to hit California's underground club
scene is sweet, colorful -- and deadly.

The drug, a form of methamphetamine called ya ba, a Thai name meaning
"crazy drug," has made its way into raves and is said to be significantly
more powerful and dangerous than the current club drug of choice, Ecstasy.

"The scary thing about these is that they are adding color to them and
adding flavor, which could give the perception that these drugs are less
dangerous than they really are," says Will Glaspy, a spokesman for the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration.

The pills, which cost $10 to $20 apiece, are sometimes passed off as
Ecstasy to unwitting users, Glaspy said. Packing a potent mix of highly
addictive methamphetamine and caffeine, ya ba can keep users awake for days
and has hallucinogenic effects, sometimes causing users to believe they
have bugs crawling under their skin. The drug can be fatal, and common side
effects include increased heart rate, dehydration, paranoia and depression.

In August, federal agents in Sacramento made the largest bust of ya ba
smugglers since the drug first appeared in the United States three years
ago. The arrests of 10 people in Sacramento for allegedly smuggling 75,000
pills from Thailand and Laos came after the U.S. Customs Service seized 46
shipments of ya ba in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu,
which were destined for Sacramento addresses.

So far, ya ba has appeared mainly in Southeast Asian communities around
California. Law enforcement's efforts have been hampered because "we're
talking about a pretty closed community, so it's pretty hard to get
information," said Daniel Lane, the lead U.S. Customs official in Sacramento.

Methamphetamine abuse is not a new problem in the United States, where
about 1 million people reported using meth in 2000.

DEA chief Asa Hutchinson has called methamphetamines "the No. 1 drug
problem in rural America." In urban areas, he says, club drugs are the top
problem. Ya ba, then, may be a terrifying combination.

Ya ba has become a vague label for any type of methamphetamine in pill
form, although it specifically refers to the brand produced in Southeast
Asia. Meth more commonly comes in powder form, allowing users to snort it
through their nostrils or inhale its fumes when heated.

In Thailand, addiction to ya ba has reached nearly epidemic proportions,
with the Thai Health Ministry estimating 3 million people are addicted to
amphetamines.

Ya ba was at first sold legally in Thailand, where truckers used the pills
to stay awake. The government declared ya ba illegal in 1970, but the drug
has since managed to enter all segments of Thai society, with reports of
widespread drug use by manual laborers, college students and even
5-year-old schoolchildren.

The drug is now produced mainly in Burma by the United Wa State Army, a
group of ethnic tribesmen allied with the country's ruling junta and known
to be one of the world's largest and most well-armed drug-dealing
organizations, law enforcement officials said.

Ya ba already has spread outside Southeast Asia, and reportedly has shown
up on the underground club scene throughout Europe and Australia.