'ANY LAB IS ONE METH LAB TOO MANY'

Is the "poor, white man's crack" poised for a comeback?

When a new law took effect in 2006 restricting sales of
pseudoephedrine, the common cold medicine used to make
methamphetamine, meth lab seizures declined in North Carolina by
about 40 percent. Those statistics haven't changed much since.

"We are holding steady at this point," said state Attorney General
Roy Cooper, who described the methamphetamine problem as an
"epidemic" in early 2004. "Obviously North Carolina continues to grow
in population, and any lab is one meth lab too many."

Detective Joe Burch, a resident meth specialist at the Gaston County
Police Department, agrees.

"It's simply holding steady right now," said Burch. "The new law has
helped. ... I wish we could wipe it out completely."

New Laws Cut into Traditional Labs

Statewide, the number of meth lab busts peaked at 328 in 2005. Busts
declined significantly to 197 in 2006, when the Methamphetamine Lab
Prevention Act took effect. That law has restricted the number of
pseudoephedrine-containing products in a single purchase to two, and
only with identification. Last year there were 206 busts, up from 197 in 2008.

The plateau in meth lab seizures is certainly more encouraging than a
methamphetamine increase, authorities say. But new trends in the
production and availability of the drug may be pushing the problem
off the statistical radar.

The rise of mobile "one pot" or "shake-and-bake" labs is now an
increasing concern at the local, state and national levels. Using a
recipe that requires less pseudoephedrine and can be mixed in 2-liter
bottles, meth makers are able to evade law enforcement more easily by
taking chemical-mixing operations -- and the odors that tend to give
them away -- on the move.

The New York Times recently reported that this new trend is behind
the spike in the number of busts in Oklahoma, which had 743 last year
compared to 148 four years prior.

Mobile Labs Appear in Gaston

Burch says the last meth lab he saw, which was in the fall of 2009,
was a "shake-and-bake" lab in Lincoln County. Investigators were
tipped off by a routine traffic stop in Gaston County.

Twenty-five to 30 percent of all seizures in the state are now
"shake-and-bake," according to Attorney General Cooper. But he
expects that percentage will rise.

"Generally what we've found is that the meth lab makers have trained
other people in the neighborhood," said Cooper. "That's why we
anticipate an increase."

The shift toward this type of production presents an increased public
safety threat since meth makers can dispose of the explosive
mini-labs in places where they may not be recognized. They are more
difficult to bust, which raises the question of how useful seizure
statistics are in measuring the success of law enforcement efforts to
combat the problem.

Asked whether this trend could present a problem with the way meth
production is measured, Cooper said it is "quite possible."

"That's why we are working with local law enforcement to make sure
they stay on the lookout. They may not have discovered them, or may
not know what they are," said the attorney general.

James Copple is the president of Strategic Applications
International, which has received federal stimulus money for its meth
prevention initiatives, such as Methpedia.org. Copple has worked in
drug prevention for more than 25 years and has led 22 governors'
summits on the drug since 2001.

He is known around his Arlington, Va., office as the "King of Meth."

Copple agrees that the rise of hazardous and hard-to-find
"shake-and-bake" labs is an alarming new development, even though
general meth use has declined and the drug has never been as
widespread as cocaine or crack-cocaine.

"The concern is that kids walking around the road and go into a ditch
thinking it's safe and it may not be," he explained.

Coming in From Mexico

Also troubling, especially for Gaston and Cleveland counties and
others on the southwest border of the state, is Mexican drug importation.

"Forty-three percent [of meth] comes across the Arizona border," he
explained. "There are jumping off points in Atlanta and Jacksonville
[Fla.], so you'll see meth start to come through the Carolinas."

In its 2009 assessment, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also
emphasized the role of highway and interstate infrastructure in the
availability of drugs in North Carolina.

"Although domestic methamphetamine production is waning," reported
the agency, "Mexican-manufactured methamphetamine, primarily in the
crystalline form (Ice), is readily available in the large
metropolitan centers of the state."

Hard Drug, Soft Stats?

According to a February 2010 report from the Department of Justice,
the national increase in methamphetamine availability in mid-2008 and
2009 was also driven by a decrease in prices. Though availability of
the drug has increased nationally, local law enforcement officers say
they haven't noticed much of a change.

"We're still seeing it, [but] it's not a large amount," said Sgt.
Travis Brittain of the Gastonia Police Department Street Crimes Unit.
"We have not seen any increases or any drastic elevation in arrests
or seizures or anything like that."

Exactly how much meth city and county police are seeing, however, is
difficult to determine.

When The Gazette requested the number of annual meth possession
charges from the city of Gastonia, the police public information
office initially responded, "Sorry, but we do not have the data you
requested. ... We don't see a lot of meth here."

City police eventually provided total "synthetic drug possession
arrests" from 2000 to 2009. Those numbers increased drastically from
only three in 2005 -- the height of the meth "epidemic"-- to 29 in
2006. There were 33 synthetic drug possession charges last year in
Gastonia, but all of those numbers "include both Demerol and
methadones," opiates in the same legal classification, Schedule II.

But, Burch said Gaston County police are still seeing methamphetamine.

"Meth is still out there and there's word that there's little pieces
here in Gaston County," he said. "But not larger amounts that people
used to purchase."

Data provided by the Gaston County Police Department shows a total of
only 14 charges for amphetamines or methamphetamines since 2006, the
only years for which the office was able to provide data. The
breakdown of drug arrests also includes 153 charges for "Unknown Type Drug."

But Burch and Brittain both stressed that they are constantly on the
lookout for the drug and are staying abreast of new trend updates
from federal and state authorities. Burch says that many of those
updates are now focusing on "shake-and-bake" production.

An 'Exceptionally Destructive' Drug

According to Copple, drug trafficking patterns suggest a heightened
threat of Mexican importation here. Of particular concern is a gang
known as Mara Salvatrucha, often abbreviated as MS-13.

"In terms of the new trafficking patterns especially with MS-13,"
said Copple, "my guess is you will eventually see it. I would
continually be watching for it."

Burch said the highly addictive nature of meth is a reason his
department is constantly looking for it. Even though the prevalence
of methamphetamine pales in comparison to cocaine, crack,
prescription pills and other controlled or illegal substances, its
use and production are exceptionally destructive.

"Prevalence rates compared to coke and heroin are significantly
lower, but community impact is much higher -- environmental issues,
the prevalence of violence among tweakers," explained Copple.

Meth production has contaminated groundwater in Tennessee. The
discovery of "superlabs" led to the closing of three public parks in
Washington. And a number of children have been found in meth labs
across the South.

Five years after the meth "epidemic," however, much of the attention
is now focused on prescription drug abuse. Brittain says prescription
pills are the "majority" of the drugs he sees on the streets of Gastonia.

"I've been doing this for 16 years and most have been spent on street
drug enforcement," said Brittain, who explained that he has seen many
drug fads come and go -- such as dilauded, which was apparently
popular among local prostitutes several years back.

"It's almost like the flavor of the month," he said.

Whether or not the production shifts and price decreases will lead to
a renaissance of meth use is impossible to say for sure. Copple says
the fact that the drug does not seem to have much appeal among
today's teenagers is encouraging. Many first-time users during the
peak of meth five years ago are now seeking treatment.

But Copple continues to work closely with local law enforcement
across the country. His organization is now busy organizing a
national summit that will take place in June, the Rural Law
Enforcement Meth Initiative.

"Every time with meth," he said, "when we take our eyes off the
problem, we get bit."