554 Labs Earn State A Top Spot For Meth

Law-enforcement agencies seized 121 more clandestine methamphetamine
labs last year than they did in 1998, making Arkansas the No. 1 state
in the nation in meth-lab seizures per capita, according to a state
official.

Year-end statistics from the state Crime Laboratory show that 554 labs
were confiscated in 1999, up from 433 the year before, in a
continuation of a rapid climb that began six years ago in a state
where methamphetamine is now considered one of law enforcement's top
problems.

"We were third behind California and Missouri" in sheer numbers, state
Drug Director Bill Hardin said. "But per capita, we were No. 1. We had
five times more labs per capita than California and 1.6 times more
[per capita] than Missouri."

Hardin said the rankings were based on data from the Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

Methamphetamine has forced law enforcement in the state to shift
resources, reorganize departments and seek more federal funding,
officials said. And authorities are still trying to catch up.

According to Arkansas State Police data, only six methamphetamine labs
were found statewide in 1994. The number jumped to 24 in 1995, 95 the
next year, then rocketed to 242 in 1997. It almost doubled in 1998,
with 433 labs.

Jim Clark, director of the state Crime Laboratory, said the three lab
chemists specially trained to dismantle methamphetamine labs had
already been called to assist with 67 labs by the end of January.

"If we continue at that rate, we're looking at 700 labs this year,"
Clark said.

The increase in methamphetamine seizures has contributed to a huge
backlog of drug evidence yet to be analyzed at the crime laboratory in
6,200 cases, Clark said.

"I think the emphasis placed on meth in the last two years has caused
the increase. More awareness by law enforcement and better education
have really made an impact," Clark said.

"We've realized it's not just in the middle of fields anymore. It can
be done in a pickup truck or a motel room."

Police find those situations more often as people who make
methamphetamine develop different methods to slightly reduce the
pungent odor, which enables them to make it in more populated areas
without raising as much suspicion. But the hazards are just as great.

Mixing the chemicals used to make methamphetamine creates the
potential for an explosion, experts say. The fumes created by the
mixture are toxic, according to officials. Moving labs into populated
areas threatens innocent people who may be near the lab.

Just this week, the 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force, covering
Washington and Madison counties, arrested a husband and wife in
Fayetteville who officers claimed were cooking the drug in a hotel
room along Fayetteville's busiest street, College Avenue.

Clark said three of the Crime Laboratory's 13 chemists are assigned
full-time to meth-lab disassembly and analysis. They go to the sites
of all labs seized in the state.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration requires a DEA-certified
chemist to have meth labs disassembled and sampled before the federal
agency will pay for cleanup and disposal of the hazardous chemicals
and contaminated items, Clark said.

The drug administration has paid to train several local officers
statewide in meth-lab disassembly. That's enabled the Crime Laboratory
to send only one lab chemist to most sites if a DEA-certified officer
is available to assist. The Crime Laboratory requires two people
trained to safely handle meth labs in case one person succumbs to
chemicals or is injured.

But with more labs cropping up each year, the assistance has done
little to ease the Crime Laboratory chemists' workload.

"What's happening is the more they go out, the less time they have to
work in the laboratory," Clark said. "It's a vicious, never-ending
circle. I'm not sure where it will end until society realizes drug use
is not any good."

Scott Ando is a special agent and public-information officer for the
DEA's New Orleans field division, which is Arkansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama. Ando said calendar-year statistics available
through its clearinghouse, the El Paso Intelligence Center, aren't
complete for 1999. But through August, Arkansas ranked fourth in the
nation for meth-lab seizures.

For the federal government's fiscal year, which ended in September,
Arkansas ranked second to Missouri. Arkansas and Missouri ended that
recording period with 348 and 418 labs, respectively.

"The situation in Arkansas is getting worse year by year, as indicated
by [drug] treatment data," said Ross Deck, acting director of
programs, budget, research and evaluation for the Office of National
Drug Control Policy. "Admissions [for treatment of methamphetamine
abuse and addiction] are analyzed, and we've seen a slow spread from
the West Coast to the east. Last year, Arkansas hit the list of the
top 10 states for [meth] treatment. It means more people in Arkansas
are using, and more are having serious problems."