METHAMPHETAMINE THE NEXT DRUG EPIDEMIC OR HYPE?

Fifteen years ago an insidious new drug began arriving in Louisiana. It was
a white powder that had been transformed into a hard substance that could be
smoked. It moved across Louisiana on interstate highways, then began
settling into the relative safety of the rural parishes.

Law enforcement had never seen a stimulant as powerful as crack cocaine.
Until now.

The lure of methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant that dramatically
affects the central nervous system, is clear.

Those using it become hyper, excited and experience a sense of sheer bliss.
The effects can last up to eight hours, far longer per hit than its more
popular competitor, crack cocaine. And it can be made inexpensively. It's
primary ingredient: pseudoephedrine, an over-the-counter nasal decongestant.

Methamphetamine, by any name - speed, chalk, ice, crank or glass - is an
organic compound derived from ammonia. It is refined in labs big and small
primarily in the Southwest.

And while meth labs are popping up across Louisiana, even here in Acadiana,
law enforcement and drug experts believe it will take years to reach
"epidemic" status.

In the past five years, meth's presence has steadily increased across the
state, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, a federal agency
that examines the threat that various drugs pose to state and regional
areas.

Its effects are dramatic. Users often binge, staying up days at a time, then
passing out for long periods of time after they crash. The long-term effects
can be dramatic and devastating. Studies have shown that the drug may
permanently alter the brain. In some states, the production, sale and use of
methamphetamine have altered the landscape of drug prevention and law
enforcement efforts.

According to the El Paso Intelligence Center, a federal law enforcement
agency that tracks clandestine drug labs nationally, there were 15
methamphetamine labs discovered in Louisiana last year. The numbers have
almost doubled already this year. As of Aug. 8, law enforcement agencies had
uncovered 26 labs statewide.

"That isn't to say there aren't meth labs in any given parish because, I can
assure you, there are," says Warren Rivera, the resident agent in charge of
the DEA's Baton Rouge office, which oversees the Acadiana area.

Experts estimate that for every lab discovered, three more continue to
operate. But solid numbers remain hard to come by, making it nearly
impossible to measure the impact of meth's presence here.

Media reports have been breathless and urgent, warning of a drug more
addictive than crack cocaine that will soon overwhelm the state.

"It's going to be a big problem," said one U.S. attorney in March. "It's
going to be an epidemic."

But most law enforcement and drug experts are much more sanguine in their
assessment of the problem, suggesting that while increased use and
manufacture of meth is inevitable, it's unlikely it will take over the
region.

"Overall, cocaine, mainly crack, remains the primary drug threat in
Louisiana," says Joseph Haddock, author of the NDIC assessment of drugs in
Louisiana.

Arriving in Louisiana

In South Louisiana, methamphetamine is barely a blip on the law enforcement
radar screen but north of the Red River it has arrived with a vengeance. In
some lower-income, agricultural communities of North Louisiana the drug is
now competing with crack as the drug of choice, tying up law enforcement on
both fronts.

"We've still got the crack problem and now we've got to deal with this on
top of that," says Sgt. Harold Freeman of the Metro Narcotics Task Force in
Ouachita Parish. "We are being swamped."

Between 1988 and 1998, the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Department uncovered
only one meth lab. Since then, discovering labs in rural areas has become a
common occurrence.

"We weren't ready for it," says Freeman. "We thought it would never happen
here. We were told it was coming but we were nowhere near prepared."

Officials believe the huge increase in North Louisiana stems from a strong
effort in nearby Arkansas to quell a crisis there. In 2001, more than 351
meth labs were discovered in Arkansas, according to the El Paso Intelligence
Center. Experts believe that as law enforcement there has increased pressure
on makers and users, many drifted southward in search of anhydrous ammonia,
the key ingredient in meth that can be found in most crop fertilizers.

"People are going to the Lafayette area to get the (fertilizer) and then
bring it back up here" to make meth, says Freeman. In recent months, some
Southwest Louisiana farmers have reported that their tanks of anhydrous
ammonia have been targeted.

Putting Things in Perspective

All but one of the labs found in Louisiana has been of the mom-and-pop
variety, producing five or fewer pounds of the drug a year. While the
numbers of these labs may be a barometer for the overall problem, it's a far
from complete picture.

Many arrests involve meth being transported across state lines, not meth
manufactured locally. Last month, state police stopped a motorist with more
than 16 pounds of the drug in his vehicle on Interstate 10 in St. Martin
Parish.

So far, meth is not a major threat to Lafayette, officials say. The
Lafayette Metro Narcotics Task Force confiscated 1.3 pounds of meth in 2001,
according to Maj. Roy Frusha of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office.
During that same year, they collected 3.4 pounds of crack cocaine, 21 pounds
of powdered cocaine and 156 pounds of marijuana. In addition, no meth labs
have been discovered in the parish and few meth-related arrests have been
made.

"Most of what we seize in the Lafayette area is in transit to New Orleans
and the East Coast," says Rivera.

One notable exception is the case of Phongsamouth Keosombat, a 32-year-old
Laotian man who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine
earlier this year in federal court. In July, Keosombat was sentenced to
eight and a half years in prison after pleading guilty, admitting he
distributed the drug in New Iberia in late 2000, early 2001.

Typically, 10 percent to 20 percent of the meth used in a specific area is
made locally in small labs, experts say. The rest comes from superlabs in
California, where thousands of meth labs are discovered each year.

No matter what the size, all meth labs do the same task: transform the
decongestant pseudoephedrine into the drug.

The predominant method for cooking the drug across much of the country is
the so-called "Nazi method" - allegedly because it was the method used by
the German army in World War II to manufacture a similar drug. It is
relatively simple and quick, reaction activates when ingredients are mixed
together and it takes only an hour or two. This method, which requires
anhydrous ammonia to work, is believed to be popular in rural agricultural
areas due to the availibility of the fertilizer.

The downside to the method is that it isn't efficient, yielding fewer drugs
from each gram of pseudoephedrine than other processing methods. More common
in California is the highly efficient "red-P method," which requires the use
of different key ingredients including its namesake, red phosphorous.
Preparing the drug can take up to 48 hours and involves heating the
chemicals to react.

According to the Inland Narcotics Clearinghouse, a dual-county task force
for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in Southwest California,
manufacturers there produced 44.6 tons of methamphetamine in 2000 alone - an
amount heavier than an adult sperm whale. In 1999, more than 2,000 labs were
seized across the state.

"With the little ones, the operators just make meth for personal use and
sell a little bit. They are making enough money to resupply enough chemicals
for another cook," says Sgt. Dave Stroh, supervisor of the Riverside County
Sheriff Department's Methamphetamine Lab Team.

"The superlabs, that's a business," he continues. "The obvious difference is
the sheer volume of chemicals. They process it in huge amounts and they are
getting as much drug as possible from the materials they are working with."

A Sordid History

The history of meth begins on a battlefield. Amphetamines were reportedly
issued to German troops in World War II to stay awake during combat
operations. U.S. Air Force pilots later began using the stimulant to remain
alert.

Recreational use of the drug began in the 1960s and it soon began being
exported across the country from Southern California through motorcycle
gangs such as the Hell's Angels.

By the '70s, users and dealers of many other drugs figured out that meth
cost less to make, was easier to produce and had an intense high that lasted
longer than most anything else. By 1980, methamphetamine began to dominate
Southern California, forcing law enforcement to shift its focus away from
PCP. The surge in meth use and the dramatic increase in labs left law
enforcement agencies scrambling.

"Suddenly we had to deal with these hazards to community and environment and
the cost associated with processing and removal of getting rid of this
stuff," Stroh says. "That was a big thing for us. It takes a hell of a lot
of money to clean these meth labs up."

Today the underground industry is dominated by Mexican drug cartels. Based
in the wide rural areas of Southern California, gigantic superlabs churn out
tens of thousands of pounds of the drug every year.

Ground zero in the fight against the drug is about 60 miles east of Los
Angeles, in the dusty suburbs of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Collectively these communities are known as the Inland Empire, stretching
from the Santa Ana Mountains to the Arizona border.

While the coastal counties enjoy the lush Mediterranean weather that
Southern California is famous for, the Inland Empire is much hotter, drier
and rural. It also is a huge expanse of desert that hides the activities of
those who don't wish to be seen.

Once the drug saturated the Southwest, the best way for dealers to maximize
profit was to expand. From the perspective of the drug cartels, moving meth
around the country is taking advantage of a business opportunity.

And as the demand for the drug outside of California increases, so does the
production. The surge nationwide in the popularity of the drug has been
noticed by Southern California law enforcement and has created a strange
paradox for the Inland Empire.

The overall number of labs has been plummeting from a peak in the late
1990s. The number of labs seized in San Bernardino County - the meth capital
of the world - peaked in 1999 with the discovery of more than 700 labs. That
number, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department dropped
to 406 last year.

What is changing is the type of lab being discovered, Stroh says.

"Here, at least in Riverside County, we've seen a noticeable increase in the
seizure of superlabs in the last few months," Stroh says.

Last month the investigators with the department discovered one of the
largest superlabs they have ever found. A single-wide mobile home in the
community of Wildomar had been stripped to the walls and converted into a
huge lab. Capable of cooking 50 pounds of meth at a time, the lab had enough
drug and chemicals in it at the time of discovery to make a half-ton of the
drug, Stroh says.

And dealers are finding more creative ways to get their drugs to market.

"We are finding it being sent on Greyhound buses and by railway; ways that
were left unchecked in the past," Stroh says.

Labs pose a danger

In San Bernardino and Riverside counties, meth labs have long posed a unique
danger for law enforcement, as they are notoriously hazardous, containing
volatile and noxious chemicals that can explode with the flick of a light
switch.

As meth labs begin to proliferate across the Midwest and into the South,
agencies face this new, and costly, danger. Cleaning up labs can be costly,
starting around $2,000 to $3,000 for smaller ones.

Toxic chemicals such as benzene, red phosphorous, acetone, iodine and
countless others can poison respiratory and nervous systems, even with
limited, short-term exposure. Officers have to be trained to deal with the
particular dangers and have the right equipment to proceed.

Cleanup is often overseen by the DEA, and hazardous materials are removed by
private companies. Here in Louisiana, the number of labs is small enough
that the agency has been using federal funds to finance the cleanups, but if
the problem grows that could change.

"If we have to start footing the bill I don't see how we can afford it,"
Freeman says.

But the Lafayette Metro Narcotics Task Force isn't waiting to be caught
unprepared, Frusha says. Officers are being trained in how to handle a meth
investigation and be ready for the health risks associated with working on
defunct labs.

So far, these officers haven't any work in the Lafayette area but have had
assisted other departments in nearby parishes that have found labs but did
not have officers with the proper training to deal with them.

The Human Cost

The next visible sign of meth's arrival will be evident on the court docket,
Stroh says. As the drug infiltrates the community, arrests on charges will
start to show a distinct pattern.

"Historically you can follow the trend by people's arrest record," Stroh
says. "First you see an arrest for being under the influence. Two years
later they get picked up for possession. Next comes arrest for sales. Next
is arrest for manufacturing. They get so hooked on the stuff they keep
getting deeper and deeper into it."

Like amphetamine, meth causes increased activity, suppresses one's appetite
and creates a general sense of well-being - effects that can last six to
eight hours. Many users often suffer schizophrenia, manic depression and
suicidal impulses. That's in addition to shaking, seizures and body weakness
that accompany extensive use of the drug.

As the effect of the drug takes its toll on individuals, treatment centers
in the region will have to start dealing with its peculiar effects.

Treatment centers are typically the last agency to grapple with a new drug.
The use of the drug has to expand first and then, when people start running
out or there is a shortage, they start looking for options, says Joyce Ben,
the regional administrator of Louisiana's State Office of Addictive
Disorders.

"Once things start getting critical and people start running out then they
start coming in for treatment," she says. "But right now, when we see it,
it's one of a number of drugs that someone might be using," Ben says. "But
in terms of the drugs we have to deal with here, alcohol is still the king."

Phone C.J. Schexnayder at 237-3560, ext. 140, or e-mail him at
cjschexnayder@timesofacadiana.com.

Public Life Editor Louis Rom contributed to this report. Phone him at
237-3560, ext. 118, or e-mail him at louisrom@yahoo.com.

What is Methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine is a white, odorless and bitter-tasting crystalline powder
that is soluble in water or alcohol. The drug can be made in clandestine
laboratories with relatively inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients.
Depending on the form, the drug can be smoked, injected or orally ingested.
Snorting or orally ingesting meth produces a high, but not an intense rush.
Snorting produces effects within three to five minutes. Ingesting produces
effects within 15 to 20 minutes.

What are the immediate effects of the drug?

Methamphetamine causes increased activity, decreased appetite, and a general
sense of well-being. These effects can last six to eight hours. After the
initial "rush," there is typically a state of high agitation that in some
individuals can lead to violent behavior. Because tolerance for meth occurs
within minutes - meaning that the pleasurable effects disappear even before
the drug concentration in the blood falls significantly - users try to
maintain the high by binge use of the drug.

What are the long-term effects of the drug?

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive
drug-seeking and drug use. Chronic methamphetamine abusers exhibit symptoms
that can include violent behavior, anxiety, confusion and insomnia. They can
also display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, auditory
hallucinations, mood disturbances and delusions. The paranoia can result in
homicidal as well as suicidal thoughts. Used over long periods of time, meth
can cause fatal kidney and lung disorders, liver damage and blood clots.
Researchers say that brain scans of long-time meth users show permanent
major damage to brain cells.

What is the scope of methamphetamine use nationally?

According to a federal study, in 2002 an estimated 8.8 million people had
tried methamphetamine at some time in their lives. Data from the 2000 Drug
Abuse Warning Network, which collects information on drug-related episodes
from hospital emergency departments in 21 metropolitan areas, reported that
meth-related episodes increased from approximately 10,400 in 1999 to 13,500
in 2000 - a 30 percent increase.

What treatments are effective for abusers?

There are currently no particular pharmacological treatments for dependence
on drugs such as methamphetamine. The current pharmacological approach is
borrowed from experience with treatment of cocaine dependence.
Unfortunately, this approach has not met with much success since no single
agent has proven efficacious in controlled clinical studies.

At this time the most effective treatments for meth addiction are cognitive
behavioral interventions. These approaches are designed to help modify the
patient's thinking, expectancies and behaviors and to increase skills in
coping with various life stressors. Meth recovery support groups also appear
to be effective adjuncts to behavioral interventions that can lead to
long-term drug-free recovery.

Where can I get more information about methamphetamine abuse?

To learn more about methamphetamine and other drugs of abuse, contact the
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) at
1-800-729-6686. Information specialists are available to assist you in
locating needed information and resources. Information can also be accessed
through the National Institute on Drug Abuse Web site (www.nida.nih.gov/) or
the NCADI Web site (www.health.org/).

Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse

.. Methamphetamine