METH LABS PLAGUE UTAH DIXIE

Study Shatters The Perception That Drug Is A Big-City Problem

Mike the meth addict is as likely to be sunbathing in St. George as he is
slinking along the streets of Salt Lake City looking for his next fix.

According to a national study, "big city" Utah's meth problem is also
"small city" Utah's meth problem.

Even though Salt Lake County has nearly seven times more people than five
counties combined in southwest Utah, the regions share an identical
methamphetamine treatment rate.

A crime assessment report performed under the auspices of the Department of
Justice and conducted by a Virginia criminal justice expert identified meth
as a "major" criminal issue in Utah.

That was a surprise to no one, especially after Utah vaulted into the No. 1
spot in the nation for the number of meth labs it had per capita.

But the perception that meth is an urban problem plaguing inner cities
alone is shattered in the report, which identifies Beaver, Garfield, Iron,
Kane and Washington counties as having as high a treatment rate as Salt
Lake County.

In 1998, admissions to drug treatment clinics in both areas for meth use
were 135 to 164 people per 100,000 — the two highest rates in all of Utah.
Salt Lake County had a 1998 population of 902,992, in contrast to a
population of 133,079 for those five counties combined.

The next three highest areas for treatment rates were Carbon, Emery and
Grand counties, then Tooele County and Davis County.

St. George Police Chief Bob Flowers said he arrived in Dixie about three
years ago to head the department and was amazed at what he found. Meth was
a prolific problem, and the law enforcement resources devoted to battling
the illicit drug were pathetic, he said.

"It was like we were fighting a dragon with a stick."

Washington County's drug problem is particularly vexing because it's a
border county — prime hiding ground for power dealers from Las Vegas.

"I can't tell you what it means to be a border town. When I first got here,
the thought was Nevada might as well be a foreign country because we
couldn't get to them," Flowers said.

Flowers recalled a woman who police believed was one of the top 20 meth
manufacturers sought by Las Vegas authorities when she was found hiding in
little La Verkin, Washington County. Drug officers busted a huge lab she
was running.

"Why in the world would she come to southern Utah?" Flowers said. "We
believe it was for the very reasons we

believe we were behind in the fight against meth. It's easy to hide here,
it's easy to get out in the middle of nowhere where you are unencumbered by
law enforcement, and the training and knowledge was real lacking."

Flowers said he doubled the number of officers working narcotics, and top
county law enforcement officers began hammering out the details of a
multiagency task force. The Drug Enforcement Agency, with its far-reaching
federal power, jumped in.

Eighteen months ago, the DEA opened up a field office in St. George.

"Clearly we felt there was a problem that needed to be addressed down
there," DEA spokesman Don Mendrala said. "But we're getting more business
than we thought."

Mendrala said agents initially suspected the meth cases would involve the
basic street-level dealer. What they found, more frequently than not, were
dealers in the mid-to upper-level range seeking to score some real money.

Cedar City Police Chief Bob Allinson shares the same concern over meth as
his counterpart in St. George.

Allinson had been with the Layton Police Department for 23 years when he
accepted the post of chief in Cedar City about two years ago. In his first
three months on the job, law enforcement took down more meth labs than were
busted in Layton in several years.

"At that time in Layton, two or three meth labs a year would have been
substantial. I saw that here in the first couple of months," Allinson said.
"It really opened my eyes and concerned me about how serious the meth
problem is down here."

Flowers believes the high meth treatment rates from 1998 are a direct
result of increased law enforcement efforts devoted to cleaning up the meth
problem.

Pat Fleming, acting director of the Utah Division of Substance Abuse,
agrees.

"Most of the treatment for illegal drugs is court-ordered in," Fleming
said. "And meth is the drug of choice."

Fleming said the proliferation of meth addicts in southwest Utah isn't
surprising to him, given the young college population and economic
prosperity in the St. George area.

"It's taken off in Utah in such a young population, and the economics down
there are booming."

And Flowers says it makes sense that as Washington County tackles the meth
problem head-on, it migrates into neighboring counties like Iron and
Beaver.

"Meth has sort of overwhelmed everybody," says Cedar City's Allinson. "I
don't think anyone saw this coming."