'THE DEVIL'S NECTAR'

LONGMONT - Recipes to make the drug methamphetamine are readily available
on the Internet, in books sold online and at local bookstores.

Most of the ingredients can be picked up at a grocery store and include
common items such as Coleman fuel, sinus medicine and gas-line antifreeze.

When combined together and "cooked" according to directions, the result is
a dangerous drug becoming more prevalent in Longmont and along the Front
Range, according to Longmont police Detective Darin Marsing.

"This stuff is the devil's nectar," Marsing said. "I have seen nothing but
pain and despair and agony from the people who use."

Jo Ruder, the behavioral health program manager for Boulder County Health
Department, said meth is very addictive and that the addiction is hard to
treat.

"It's nasty. We've seen a real rise in the use of that particular drug,"
Ruder said. "You can get psychologically addicted and physically addicted
in the sense that you build up tolerance so you have to use more of it."

According to Marsing, meth is similar to crack cocaine, except that it
lasts for 12 hours instead of 20 minutes. The most dangerous way of using
meth is smoking or injecting it, according to Marsing. It also can be snorted.

Some of the side effects of using the drug are high blood pressure,
shortness of breath, nausea and diarrhea.

"Some users can get violent, paranoid, have visual or auditory
hallucinations," Ruder said. "Some can get psychotic." Marsing said heavy
users usually suffer from paranoia and often arm themselves with guns and
other weapons.

"We have recovered land mines, bombs and automatic assault rifles from
users," he said.

The drug's appeal is the state of euphoria it creates. But as a users keep
abusing the drug, they become immune and must take more.

While the drug itself might be dangerous, it is the makeshift chemistry
labs that have sprouted up in garages and homes across the city that worry
Marsing and other law enforcement officials the most.

"When somebody sets up a lab in your neighborhood, it is just like having a
toxic-waste dump," Marsing said.

Besides being extremely hazardous to anyone coming into contact with the
drug, byproducts from meth "cooks" are very combustible.

The key to combating the problem is "education, education, education,"
Marsing believes.

Last summer, the Longmont Police Department joined with the Longmont Fire
Department and other municipal emergency responders in training how to
handle suspected methamphetamine labs.

Marsing has since taken the show on the road and is educating city and
county agencies such as public works and social services.

He believes the public also should be aware of the telltale signs of a meth
lab. Common items used to make meth are cold medicines containing
pseudoephedrine, iodine batteries, range burners, Heet antifreeze and
Coleman fuel. One of the most hazardous aspects of meth labs is the
chemicals they produce, including cyanide and dangerous gases, Marsing
said. "The problem is for very gram or pound made, there is five times the
amount of toxic waste left over," Marsing said. On the detectives' desk,
Marsing keeps dozens of pictures of people injured by meth labs.

Many of the drug suspects with whom he has come into contact now have
cancer, Marsing said.

As a result of his exposure to an active lab, Marsing even believes a
section of his face is now unable to grow hair.

"If you think you know someone manufacturing it, stay away and call
police," Marsing said.

Last year, Longmont shut down five meth labs. This year, police already
have come into contact with three. And, Marsing added, "There are at least
a half dozen I know about that we have missed."

Nationwide, the number of meth labs is doubling every year, according to
statistics compiled by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

In most of those instances, the lab operators have left the motel or the
rental houses they tend to frequent before police arrive.

He said that from his undercover experience, he knows of at least two dozen
people in the city who can get a lab up and running at any given time.

"That is a conservative estimate," Marsing said.