REPORT FINDS FEWER METH LABS, STEADY METH TRAFFIC IN MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS - Methamphetamine labs are disappearing in Minnesota,
though that doesn't mean there are fewer abusers or less of the
addictive drug on the street, according to a report slated for release today.

The Hazelden report showed a 78 percent drop in the number of meth
labs busted and a 75 percent drop in people arrested for making meth
in the third quarter of 2005 compared with the same period in 2004.
The drop came after a state law went into effect July 1 restricting
the sale of decongestants which contain a key meth ingredient at drugstores.

"We have seen a huge drop of meth labs in the state. I think the new
law is the best example of something that actually worked," said
special agent Larry Bergsgaard, who heads the narcotics unit of the
state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Similar results were seen in
Iowa, Oklahoma and other states that have similar laws, he said.

The drop confirms anecdotal reports from law enforcement officials
that they are finding fewer meth labs. The explosive chemicals used
to make the drug seep into the walls and floors of buildings and into
the environment and can cause cancer, brain damage and respiratory problems.

Although the report didn't cite the number of meth labs busted, in
2003 police found more than 400 of them, according to the state
Department of Public Safety. Even so, "meth continues to come into
the state in large quantities, the purity is higher and the price is
still pretty cheap," Bergsgaard said.

Although the number of people treated for meth addiction continues to
increase, fewer died from meth overdoses. There were 14
methamphetamine deaths in the state last year compared with 20 in
2004, the report said. Heroin and other opiates caused the most drug
overdose deaths in the two counties, 102 deaths in 2005, which was 30
more than in 2004.

Among all Minnesotans, fewer than 1 percent used methamphetamine in
the past year, said Carol Falkowski, a Hazelden Foundation drug trend
expert who compiled the report. National surveys found the same
share, about 0.6 percent, had used meth.

That compared with about 7 percent of Minnesotans who had tried
marijuana and 1 percent who used cocaine in the past year, according
to a telephone survey of about 16,900 people interviewed for the
state Human Services Department.