Methamphetamine new danger, drug czar warns

by Ron Martz
staff writer

On the street it's know as "speed" "crank", "crystal", and "ice".
Law enforcement officials know it as methamphetamine and say it has the
potential to be the next major enemy in the war on drugs.
Manufactured in small labs with highly volatile chemicals, methamphetamine
is gaining in popularity in the West and Midwest, the president's national
drug czar said Monday.
Speaking to the National Sheriff's Association at the Renaissance Waverly
Hotel in Cobb County, retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey said that while
cocaine and heroin remain the top two drugs of choice for the nation's drug
abusers, methamphetamine has the potential to attract a new generation of
users.
"We've got to get ahead on this problem or it will be like crack cocaine
in the 80's," McCaffrey warned the sheriffs.
According to McCaffrey, more than 600 methamphetamine labs were raided in
California last year, another 400 in the Midwest. One Iowa sheriff said in the
past year his office has made 500 methamphetaminerelated arrests, up from 146
the previous year.
Of particular concern to the sheriffs is the cost of cleanup, about
$30,000 for a small lab, because of the volatility and danger of the chemicals
used in manufacturing the drug. Those chemicals include acetone and industrial
solvents.
"This is literally like a chemical warfare operation to do it properly"
McCaffrey said.
McCaffrey reiterated his concerns later Monday morning at a meeting with
the Atlanta High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force. One of 15
regional HIDTAs in the country, the Atlanta task force is comprised of
federal, state and local law enforcement officials and prosecutors.
McCaffrey told the Atlanta task force that drug interdiction without
prevention programs for youth and treatment for criminals will not solve the
problem. When asked about a proposal by House Speaker Newt Gingrich to "drown
the problem[of drugs] in resources," made before the same group on Sunday,
McCaffrey said any technology that can be used would be helpful in fighting
the drug war and rehabilitation funds would be welcomed. But he expressed
concerns about increasing the role of the military in the drug war, citing the
shooting death recently of a teenager by a patrol of U.S. Marines doing
counterdrug operations along the TexasMexico border.
"I'm really leery of militarizing the Southwest border." McCaffrey said.
Instead, he told the task force the U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and federal
law enforcement agencies should be beefed up to handle the job of drug
interdiction along the borders.