UTAH METH PROBLEM GETS PUBLICITY WHILE RISING USE OF MARIJUANA GOES UNNOTICED

A creeping Utah drug problem has gone undetected because police busts of
methamphetamine labs have grabbed the headlines.

Yet the illegal use of marijuana is growing too. In fact, police say they
busted two people this week in Salt Lake County for growing marijuana.

"As far as investigations, meth has swept the headlines, but the other
problems do exist," said Don Mendrala, Drug Enforcement Agency resident
agent in charge.

Though Utah ranks third in the nation for meth lab seizures, a recent study
shows marijuana use by Utah children in grades seven through 12 has gone up
by 50 percent in the past 13 years, according to a new study by Brigham
Young University.

On Monday, Salt Lake police seized 11 marijuana plants, 18 grams of dried
marijuana and three pounds of marijuana leaves at a Salt Lake home, while
Sandy police and the DEA found 69 plants at the suspect's brother's home in
Sandy.

Each plant is worth $1,000, and each pound of dried leaves equals between
300 and 500 joints.

"Unlike coke and meth, [marijuana] involves cultivation," said Salt Lake
police Sgt. Ken Hansen.

Marijuana can be grown outside in a field, but it's hard to monitor,
Mendrala said. Anyone could find it, take it or report it. And growing it
indoors can be more problematic.

"The stench in the Sandy home about knocked us over," Mendrala said. "If
you're going to grow enough plants to make it worth it financially, people
are going to find out."

Mendrala said calls have come in from neighbors, delivery boys -- even Girl
Scouts selling cookies who have smelled the stench while standing at
someone's door.

"You can't hide that stuff if you're growing enough to make money," said
Pat Fleming, assistant director of the state division of substance abuse.

Fleming said most Utah marijuana is imported on Interstates 15 and 70
because growing it is so difficult. At the same time, Utah laws may make
the state one of the easiest places to make meth.

"It's an open-market state where the ingredients to make meth are easier to
get," Fleming said. "It's not that law enforcement is doing a bad job
catching the guys growing pot, it's just easier and cheaper to make meth."

There is a distinct line between the hard-core users who go for heroin,
meth and cocaine and those who smoke pot.

The problem with marijuana, Fleming said, is that it is a gateway drug that
can lead to those hard-core drugs. And Utah's biggest problem is that more
children are smoking cigarettes.

"In this culture, smoking is a big step," Fleming said. "They've already
been alienated from their friends and families because of the cigarettes,
so marijuana is no big deal."

The BYU study, which was filled out anonymously by 10,000 Utah students in
May of 1997, shows marijuana use is going up at the same rate as smoking.
In 1984, 10 percent of Utah students said they were smoking tobacco and 6
percent said they were smoking marijuana. In 1997, 15 percent said they
were smoking tobacco and 10 percent were smoking marijuana.

"Marijuana is five times stronger than it was in the '60s and '70s -- it's
a whole new drug," Fleming said. "Kids don't realize that. And teenagers
aren't as afraid of pot because they know people who have done it, and they
haven't turned into drug fiends. But that gateway effect is definitely
there."