METH PROBLEM SHOWING NO SIGN OF LETTING UP, DCI HEAD SAYS

POWELL, Wyo. - The state's methamphetamine caseload has risen 700
percent since 1992 and is showing no sign of abating, Wyoming's top
law enforcement official said.

The relative inexpensiveness of the drug, the intensity and duration
of its high, easily accessible chemicals and manufacturing
information, and limited treatment options make it difficult to reduce
its use, Division of Criminal Investigation Director Tom Pagel said at
a public meeting recently.

Short-term treatment programs commonly used for alcohol abusers are
rarely effective with methamphetamine addicts, he said.

"Until we provide some more options, we're never going to solve this
problem," he said.

Simply imposing longer jail terms is not the answer either, Pagel
said.

"This happens to good people every day," he said.

One reason for the rapid rise of meth use is the North American Free
Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, Pagel said.

Smugglers are using the increased cross-border traffic inspired by
NAFTA to mask drug shipments in the U.S., and Border Patrol agents are
able to search only 2 percent of the vehicles that cross the border,
Pagel estimated.

In 1992, DCI investigated 20 methamphetamine cases. In 1999, the
number was 142. DCI agents raided three clandestine meth labs in 1992.
In 1998, the number had risen to 12, and last year, 20 labs were seized.

The labs alone present challenges to law enforcement because of their
toxic nature, and cleanup often costs thousands of dollars. A lab near
Jackson cost $50,000 to clean because bulldozers had to scrape away
contaminated topsoil, Pagel said.

A variety of methods are used to produce the drug, including the
cooking of ephedrine, which is found in cold tablets.

A recent arrest in Sheridan revealed that 25 pounds of cold tablets
had been cooked down.

Many ingredients in the manufacture of methamphetamine are common
household chemicals, and one can find 200 recipes for cooking meth on
the Internet, Pagel said.

Cocaine and methamphetamine both sell for approximately $100 per gram
on the street, but the high from methamphetamine lasts eight or 10
times as long as from the same amount of cocaine, Pagel said.

When the effects of meth start to wear off, users are likely to be
extremely violent and irrational. A large percentage of burglaries and
assaults are related to methamphetamine abuse, he said.

Pagel said Park County trails only Casper, Rock Springs and Cheyenne
in the degree of its meth problem.

In Wyoming, 45 percent of drug arrests are made by repeat
offenders.

"We're not dealing with this well," he said.