METHAMPHETAMINE MAKES MARK ON AREA

Lab Busts Rise; Experts Differ On Scope Of Problem

Law enforcement officers weren't checking fishing licenses last winter when
they yanked open the door of an ice-fishing house on Waverly Lake, about 30
miles west of Minneapolis. What two state conservation officers discovered
was a methamphetamine laboratory. And the toxic fumes from a compound
cooking on the shack's portable stove almost overwhelmed them.

The Waverly ice-house raid was one of 79 clandestine meth labs discovered
by law-enforcement agencies in Minnesota between October 1998 and the end
of September 1999. But other labs have been found since then -- including a
huge lab in Minneapolis and a smaller lab in St. Paul that were busted on
the same night last week.

The Minneapolis lab had been cooking so many batches of meth that the
caustic fumes were literally melting the walls in a rented office in the
trendy Lyn-Lake area of South Minneapolis. Investigators seized two pounds
of ``crystal meth,'' the most potent form of the illegal drug, plus what
they suspect may be the ``boutique'' drugs Ecstacy and PCP.

``It's probably going to be the largest finished-product seizure this
year,'' said Tim McCormick, head of the Minneapolis office of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration.

John Michael Pierson, who was arrested during the raid Tuesday night, faces
drug charges in federal court, where the penalties are stiff -- starting
with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison without the
possibility of parole.

The St. Paul bust was the first meth lab discovery for St. Paul police. The
lab, in the attic of a duplex on Matilda Street near Rice Street, was small
and not fully operational. Two people were arrested.

Methamphetamine use in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota and
Wisconsin has been a growing problem for a number of years, but the
discovery of meth labs is a fairly recent phenomenon. In 1994, for example,
only three labs were discovered. This year's total is 81.

There are different views of what this means, however.

``The lab increase is a little deceiving,'' said Tim O'Malley, a special
agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. ``The highest
percent of meth on the street -- about 90 percent -- is from Mexico. So the
number of labs isn't indicative of an increase in meth, especially since
most of them are very small.''

In fact, the increase in meth-lab busts may reflect the success of recent
programs to train law-enforcement officers how to detect labs and deal with
them safely. Part of a $750,000 grant from President Clinton's
law-enforcement initiative has been used to train police, fire and
emergency personnel on the signs and dangers of meth labs.

``We've probably trained over a thousand officers in the state since
April,'' O'Malley said.

In Minneapolis, for example, police carry laminated plastic cards in the
glove boxes of their squad cars that they consult when encountering a
suspected lab. That they've been extensively trained was demonstrated last
week when officers broke into the huge lab on Lake Street, discovered its
contents and immediately vacated the building to await a hazardous
materials team and DEA officials.

St. Paul officers took similar action when they discovered the small meth
operation.

On the other hand, the increasing number of meth labs could reflect an
entrepreneurial reaction to increased demand for the drug.

But there are differing opinions about the extent of the drug's penetration
into Minnesota. The DEA's McCormick doesn't hesitate to call Minnesota's
meth problem an ``epidemic.''

``There's a growing user base here,'' he said. ``The addiction rate is very
high. There's a lot of money to be made (in Minnesota), and the producers
are acting accordingly.''

But another drug expert has a different view of the problem.

``There's no question that meth use is on the increase, but this is not an
epidemic of the crack cocaine proportions that we saw in the 1980s,'' said
Carol Falkowski, a research analyst for Hazelden Foundation, the state's
best-known treatment center.

``When coke first caught on, every indicator of use was going off,''
Falkowski said. ``With meth, you can look at drug use among people arrested
in Minneapolis in 1998 and it's less than 2 percent, compared to 20 percent
for coke and 40 percent for pot (marijuana).''

Some law officers see things differently. Meth sales outpace cocaine in St.
Paul by a ratio of to 2-to-1, according to Lt. Ken Reed of the St. Paul
Police Department.

``We try to deal with all drugs, but meth is taking up a majority of our
investigative time,'' Reed said.

Whatever the numbers, meth poses a serious safety problem on several
fronts, O'Malley said. ``Meth users are dangerous,'' he said. ``They can be
violent, psychotic. They often have a surge of belligerence when they're
high, and when they come down they can be depressed and experience
something we call `tweaking' -- becoming aggressive because they need it
(another dose).''

All agree that meth labs pose a significant safety threat to the public.
Last July, for example, an explosion took place in North Minneapolis when
drug manufacturers were unloading tanks of anhydrous ammonia, sometimes
used in making meth. Other dangerous substances used in meth manufacturing
include lithium from batteries, alcohol, gasoline, sulfuric acid and
various cleaning solvents.

``The meth made with gun cleaner even has its own name -- `green grimace,'
'' Falkowski said. ``The ingredients are so caustic. You wouldn't want it
spilled on your pants, let alone inhaled up your nose.''

In fact, O'Malley says, law officers see meth labs primarily as a safety
hazard.

``The biggest public safety concern is how hazardous the labs are rather
than the amount of meth produced per lab,'' he said. ``What makes it even
worse is how portable they can be. The process can be done in a few hours,
if you're organized. So they can use an icehouse, a motel room, a van --
anywhere they can plug in a hot plate or turn on a portable stove.

``These guys (who make meth) aren't the brightest or safest people,''
O'Malley added. ``They carry caustic or explosive chemicals in milk
cartons. Labs can blow up. Hazardous materials left over (from making meth)
are being dumped into fields, or in rivers, or down toilets. People can die.''