THE NEW 'DRUG OF CHOICE'

Arizona, DEA look for solutions to rapid increase of methamphetamine abuse

PHOENIX - Methamphetamine is digging its claws deeper into Arizona, leaving
behind a trail of broken lives and toxic waste.

In the past four years, Arizona's methamphetamine use has skyrocketed,
making it the latest front in a battle with addiction.

"It's becoming a drug of choice," said Kristen Genovese, director of
community programs for the East Valley Addiction Council in Mesa. "It's
cheaper. It's easy to get. In the last four years, there's been such a dose
of methamphetamine use in Arizona and the Southwest."

Law enforcement agencies here busted 378 methamphetamine labs in 1999, the
most recent year for which the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has
complete statistics.

The figures also represent the third-highest number of seizures in the
country behind California and Missouri. By comparison, only 16 labs were
shut down in 1995.

The DEA has already registered 330 lab busts in Arizona for 2000 and expects
that number to go higher as additional reports filter in from sheriff's
offices and police departments.

Methamphetamine use appears to be more common on the West Coast, the
Southwest and the Midwest. East Coast states reported few meth lab busts
last year. New York, which has more than three times as many people as
Arizona, reported only one meth lab seizure in 2000.

Most methamphetamine operations in Arizona are small, designed to supply
enough drugs for the producer and a few friends. Only one of the Arizona
labs shut down in 2000 was a so-called "super lab" able to produce at least
10 pounds of the drug in 24 hours.

"This is something that's being created here and used here," Phoenix DEA
Agent Jim Molesa said.

Deadly combinations

Methamphetamine - also known as meth, speed, ice, crystal, chalk or glass -
is a man-made drug produced by cooking commonly available chemicals,
including iodine, acetone and the cold medicine pseudoephedrine
hydrochloride.

While use of the drug is hurting more people every day, its production is
creating hazardous conditions in houses, hotel rooms, cars, and just about
anywhere else a meth maker can set up a small lab.

Cooking the drug generates a host of dangerous substances such as hydriotic
acid that can dissolve flesh in seconds and has fumes so toxic that even
small amounts can collapse the lungs. Another is red phosphorus, which, if
mishandled, converts to yellow phosphorus and can spontaneously ignite.

Fumes from the drug brew soak into walls, ceilings, carpeting and furniture.

It's such a hazard that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
requires training, special suits and breathing equipment for drug agents.

Neighbors and anyone moving into a drug lab house could face similar
exposures from the toxic residue, so law enforcement agencies are tasked
with cleaning up the lab sites after a bust. The DEA estimates the cleanup
cost at $15,000 to $20,000 per site.

Last year, the agency spent nearly $2 million on cleanups in Arizona, twice
what was budgeted.

This year, the agency has been given only $1.2 million even though it
doesn't expect any drop in its workload. Any shortfall may have to be made
up by state and local agencies.

State officials are aware of the problem and concerned about its personal,
environmental and financial consequences.

Gov. Jane Hull highlighted her concern about methamphetamine during her
state of the state speech this month.

"I recently accompanied a team of officers as they shut down a meth lab
operating on a quiet street right here in Phoenix," Ms. Hull told
legislators. "The sight of children growing up in such homes reaffirmed my
commitment to our efforts to combat the plague of drug abuse."

Legal solutions

Some officials are recommending changes in state law that would make it
harder to acquire the raw materials, stiffen criminal penalties and require
restitution from convicts for cleanup costs.

Another proposal would require an inspection by either the county Health
Department or the state Environmental Protection Agency before anyone
reoccupies a home where a meth lab was removed. A hazardous materials
warning would be placed on the property title until it passes an inspection
to protect anyone interested in buying the home.

Other officials hope to expand programs that protect the children found in
homes with meth labs.

Two years ago, Arizona started restricting large-scale sales of several meth
components. And many judges already impose restitution payments as a
condition of parole in drug sentences.

But the number of labs continues to grow, and few drug addicts have the
ability to make restitution payments.

More lives are bound to be hurt, more neighborhoods will be exposed to
hazardous materials and the cleanup costs will get even higher unless
something is done to change the trend, Mike McManus, a DEA agent based in
Washington, D.C., said.

"This stuff is everywhere," Mr. McManus said. "People have to understand
this drug and how it destroys people's lives."