METH LAB BUSTS ARE DOWN BY 40% IN STATE

Restrictions on Ingredients Are Working, Authorities
Say

Seizures of methamphetamine labs across California declined by nearly
40 percent last year, in part due to laws restricting the sale of
over-the-counter cold medicines used to make the drug, government
officials said Monday.

The continued decline in California mirrored trends nationwide, which
saw a 30 percent decline in seizures from 2004 to 2005. Nationally,
police seized 12,100 labs in 2005, compared with 17,500 in 2004,
according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The federal government hopes a sweeping law that would require drugs
containing pseudoephedrine - the main ingredient in meth - to be sold
from behind the pharmacy counter will further reduce the meth supply
in the United States. Though California already has such laws in
place, the nationwide mandate will begin Sept. 30.

"Communities once paralyzed by the threat of this dangerous drug are
emerging healthier and safer because we have reduced the diversion of
precursor chemicals and the number of meth labs," John Walters,
director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement.

Local law enforcement agencies attribute the drops to stepped-up
enforcement, as well as pharmacies that restrict the sale of medicines
such as Sudafed, which contains pseudoephedrine.

Officials at Pfizer Inc., the makers of Sudafed, said the company is
in favor of those policies though initially it was not convinced that
selling the product from behind the counter was the best solution.
Still, the company admits that progress is being made on the war on
meth because of the changes.

Pfizer now is focused on Mexico, where superlabs have continued to
grow.

"We're restricted in the amount of pseudoephedrine that we can buy
from Mexico, and we support that," said Erica Johnson, spokeswoman
Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. "We're trying to work alongside the
government to provide solutions."

But various agencies in Los Angeles County still see meth use as a
significant problem.

Researchers for Phoenix House, a national group of rehabilitation
facilities, found that from 1997 to 2002, the number of teens placed
into drug treatment centers in Los Angeles County rose from 1,609 to
5,572. The increase is attributed to meth use.

And the federal Drug Enforcement Administration cautions that while
lab seizures have declined, arrests and use have remained steady, said
Sarah Pullen, Los Angeles spokeswoman for the DEA.

"The large meth labs, or superlabs, have gone across the border, but
Los Angeles is a distribution point for the rest of the country," said
Capt. William Ryan, for the Los Angeles County Narcotics Bureau. "The
demand is still out there."

The Antelope Valley, once a haven for superlabs, saw less than a dozen
lab seizures last year, Ryan said.

Meth, also known as crank or tweak, sells for $5,000 to $6,500 per
pound. But ice, a purer form of meth, sells for $8,000 to $11,000 a
pound, Ryan said.

"It's still a high priority for us," Ryan said. "We still see a lot of
it."