RURAL WEST BECOMES MECCA FOR METH LABS

Springtime in the Palouse country of eastern Washington is glorious. Winter
wheat pokes through the warming soil; farmers fine tune machinery, and
methamphetamine addicts steal anhydrous ammonia for use in their illegal
drug labs.

Thefts of the nitrogen fertilizer from tanks and field trucks in eastern
Washington's Whitman County are so common that fertilizer companies and
farmers say they will soon have to fence off their supplies. "If they want
it, they'll come and get it, says McGregor Co.'s Jim Lemon, who receives
reports of thefts two or three times a week. "They're brain-dead. They have
no fear whatsoever."

Anhydrous ammonia is only one ingredient used to manufacture
methamphetamine in a toxic science experiment that can include ether,
sodium hydroxide and red phosphorus. In the final process, meth oil is
exposed to anhydrous ammonia and in minutes, meth crystals begin to form.
The stimulant can be ingested, snorted or injected and sells for about $50
to $70 a gram.

Meth production and use has literally exploded in the rural West.
Washington state's Department of Ecology reports that 769 labs statewide
were discovered last year, more than double the 349 the year before. In the
first two months of 2000, 218 labs were discovered, a pace that could reach
1,300 for the year. Spokane County Sheriff's Lt. Chan Bailey predicts a
tripling of meth lab busts for his jurisdiction. Similar statistics can be
found in Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho and other western states. Labs in
rural eastern Washington and northern Idaho are mostly the work of Anglo
entrepreneurs who usually end up in a zero sum game of manufacturing and
using.

The ages of most meth users are late teens to early 30s, but addicts often
look twice their age.

Meth induces intense paranoia and hallucinations brought on by staying up
for days on end. A recent UCLA study confirmed that meth use can lead to
permanent brain damage similar to that incurred through a stroke or
Alzheimer's disease.

"Not everyone associated with meth is a dirt bag," says Mike LaScoula,
Spokane County Health District's chemical and physical hazards adviser,
"but they are all dumb asses."

The cleanup of meth labs is dangerous work.

Every pound of meth produced leaves behind five to six pounds of toxic
chemicals, turning garages and homes into toxic waste sites. In Washington,
Department of Ecology personnel use personal protective gear with
respirators as they painstakingly dispose of the meth-making material. But
more is at stake here than toxic waste and junkies killing off their brain
cells. Meth is tearing apart the very fabric of many western communities.
Rural areas like to point the finger of blame outward toward the cities
when it comes to drugs and violence. The Mayberry, USA, ideal is often
perpetuated by small town residents, who deny that their children could be
doing drugs.

But children in the rural West are using in record numbers, and most of the
arrests made in connection with meth involve locals.

A report about rural drug use issued this year by the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University confirms that parents
would be better off raising their kids in more populated areas. The study
found eighth-graders in rural America are 104 percent more likely than
those in urban centers to use amphetamines, including methamphetamines, and
50 percent more likely to use cocaine. Little wonder, then, that in March
Whitman County launched a needle exchange program in part in anticipation
of further growth in meth (and brown tar heroin) use.

This decision was not without controversy, but county health nurse Judy
Stone, with the support of law enforcement, pushed the program through the
county's conservative board of health. Stone was acknowledging what many
parents will not.

"I have to believe the parents are in denial and not speaking to their kids
about drugs. (In the rural West) the kids don't get the backing or support
they need. And there are less resources to get help."

Farm and ranch communities may think they have it bad now with low
worldwide grain and livestock prices. But those low profits pale in
comparison to the bleaker prospects of widespread drug use and the many
crimes that surround that culture.

Isolation no longer means immunity, and, as the timeless adage goes, "We
reap what we sow."