YOUR NEIGHBOR THE METH HEAD

Wonder why speed is everywhere these days? For one thing, it's simple to make.

On January 7, the SLO County Sheriff's Department made the first meth
bust of the year. It took place at a private home on Bella Vista
Court in Paso Robles. Deputies seized a large amount of cash, assault
weapons, and equipment needed to convert powdered methamphetamine to
a more potent form known as crystal.

According to department spokesman Brian Hascall, "crystal conversion"
is a slightly less hazardous process than making pure meth powder,
which is one reason these labs are often found in densely populated
areas. Still, the threat of deadly explosions doesn't force all
full-blown meth cooks to retreat to isolated areas to whip up their
drugs. Just last summer a couple with children was arrested for
manufacturing meth in the bathroom of their downtown SLO home.
Authorities were alerted when a neighbor complained of smelling
"strong chemicals."

Meth is the drug of the hour. In recent years, its popularity has
skyrocketed nationwide. In SLO County alone, law enforcement
officials seized 9.7 pounds of meth in 2005, up from 2.5 pounds in
2004. So what is it about this drug? Turns out that meth, by
street-drug standards, is cheap and extraordinarily potent, two
qualities that make it irresistible to lots of people. One line of
meth can keep a user high for two days, and in SLO can cost as little
as $15. But it's not just affordability and staying power that makes
meth so desirable. It also makes people feel great - at least for a
while. Everyone, users included, knows that regular meth use can do
horrible things to the mind and body.

One reason meth is so cheap is that it's relatively easy to
manufacture. A handful of household chemicals and a cursory knowledge
of basic chemistry are all a person needs to "cook" up a batch.
Though the process is dangerously explosive, produces potentially
lethal fumes, and wreaks havoc on the environment, authorities
continuously seize mom-and-pop labs.

Curious to know how the meth cooks do it? Is it really that simple?
Let's find out.

Before getting started, it's a good idea to take a few precautions.
Many of the ingredients you'll be using are highly toxic, so be sure
to wear protective gloves and a surgical mask. Also remember that,
technically, this is an illegal activity, even though the ingredients
are all legal. If you don't want to get caught, don't arouse
suspicion: Cover your windows and tightly seal all air vents.

Your Neighbor the Meth Head

If you believed everything you read about meth, you'd think you could
spot a user a mile a way. The sunken face, rotten teeth, scabby,
picked-at lesions - classic hallmarks of the speed freak. And while
there's no denying the gruesome transformation many people undergo
when they get hooked on this drug, there are some regular users who
somehow maintain a semblance of normality despite their monthly,
maybe weekly, even daily habit. John is one of those who can
maintain. He works hard at his job, pays his bills, and might just
live in your neighborhood. New Times caught up with him at a downtown
SLO pub for a pint and a quick cruise down speed lane. Of course,
"John" is not his real name.

New Times: First off, have you ever made meth? John: No way. Making
it's a whole different ballgame. You'd have to be a fuckin' tweaker
to want to mess with that shit in your home. It's not that easy to
make, and it's way too easy to buy.

Here in SLO? Basically, yeah, all I'd have to do is make a call.

Are a lot of people here using it? More than you would ever believe.
It's everywhere - working people, partyers, moms, teenagers, good
people, bad people.

Have you ever sold it? Not here, no. But I used to, back East. It
wasn't as easy to get it out there a few years ago and it's pretty
easy to travel with. I'd take some crystal and put it in a bottle of
water. It dissolves clear. Then I'd get on a plane to the East Coast,
pour it in a baking pan, and stick it in the oven till the water
cooked down and it recrystalized. It was going for a hundred bucks a gram.

Why did you start using? I wasn't getting high off coke anymore, and
then I tried speed and it was like comparing lamp oil to jet fuel.
That was maybe five or six years ago. I was 26 or 27.

What was so great about it? Everything. It made me feel great.

What's the worst thing about it? It can make you very paranoid, which
isn't very attractive. It's bad for relationships. And as far as jobs
go - if you've got an hour before you have to go to work and you're
crashed, you're not going to wake up. You're basically unreliable,
and people don't really like that.

Are you a regular user? I used pretty much daily for maybe four years
or so. I guess you could say now that I'm a "professional user."

When was the last time you used? Maybe three weeks ago. It was pretty mellow.

So would you recommend meth to a friend? No fucking way. I've even
tried to get my friends to clean up. This shit is bad all the way around.

But you still use it? Yeah, I can't explain. It's not good for me. I
mean, I can pull it off, but in the long run it's going to mess with
me. I'll wind up in jail, or lose my job, lose my old lady - God
knows what. Drugs are illegal for a reason.

Okay, so who's a tweaker? They're lowlifes stealing shit to buy
drugs. I would never hang out with those guys. I don't like thieves.
I've never stolen something to get my dope. I've had it fronted when
I didn't have any money, and I pay it back, no matter what the
interest. But I don't go out and steal shit. I'm not a telltale user.
I'm a hard-working guy.

How do you feel about people who have kids and use meth? I know
people who have their shit together. They have kids, but they
regularly use. If they're going to work every day, and they take care
of their kids, they're not fuckin' losers. You can do the drug as a
daily user, but once it affects your work, then you've got to get
control over it. Either you party with it or you're using daily or
it's your fuckin' job and it has control over your life. If you can
do it and still do what you have to do to be a human, then I don't
have a problem with that.

Is meth the kind of drug that allows that? I don't know. I think it's
really rare. But anything's possible.

What if someone offered you some right now? I'd say: Is it good?

And you'd do it? If it was good? Hell yes, I'd do it.

What You Can Expect from Your Homemade Meth

* Focus and concentration like you've never had. Rebuild your car's
engine, clean your home from top to bottom, pay all your bills and
completely reorganize your household filing system, add every person
you know to your e-mail address book - the possibilities are limitless!

* Increased self-confidence, heightened sensuality, and an overall
sensation of euphoria. The world is yours for the taking. Meet,
greet, and sleep with more people than you ever imagined.

* Superhuman strength that will enable you to climb mountains and
even fall from them without ever feeling a moment of pain.

* Panic, paranoia, and hallucinations. Are your neighbors watching
you? Do monsters hide in your bedroom walls? Cover the windows and
grab a rifle - everybody's out to get you. No joke.

* Sleeplessness leading to full-blown insomnia. After a week or so,
you'll feel like the living dead, but do a little more meth and
you'll hardly notice.

* Dry, itchy skin, acne, and weird sores. You'll want to pick at
these obsessively. (See focus and concentration above.)

* Accelerated tooth decay. It's caused by a combination of all those
nasty chemicals, meth's extreme "dry mouth," and uncontrollable,
nonstop tooth-grinding. The good news: Slamming speed (injecting it)
greatly reduces the rate of tooth decay.

* Violent, aggressive behavior. Beating babies is not uncommon, nor
are suicidal thoughts and assaults on police officers, who are, after
all, out to get you.

* Depression, anxiety, nervousness, fatigue, hair loss, liver damage,
kidney disorders, memory loss, death.

Meth Fun Facts

A simple meth recipe can turn a $50 investment in cold pills and
chemicals into an $8,000- to $10,000 profit.

* Law enforcement agencies have seized labs in all 50 states.

* Meth labs have been found in homes, hotel rooms, abandoned
buildings, trailers, garages, sheds, moving vans, car trunks, and
even in backpacks.

* A pound of meth produces five to seven pounds of toxic waste as a byproduct.

* Depending on the size of the lab, toxic-waste cleanup of an
abandoned lab site can cost up to $100,000. In most cases, property
owners are solely responsible for costs.

* Small meth labs account for more explosions, fires, uncontrolled
hazardous-waste dumping, and child endangerment than large "super labs."

* An average of five people in the U.S. die every year as a result of
working in meth labs.

* One out of every six labs discovered is found because of an
explosion or fire.

* An estimated 1.4 million Americans used meth in 2005.

* More than 75 percent of all drug-treatment admissions in California
is meth-related. Meth recovery rates hover around six percent.

* Last week an 18-year-old man from Los Osos was sentenced to 16
years in prison for raping and beating his 60-year-old stepmother
while under the influence of methamphetamine.

Sources: Partnership for a Drug-Free America, U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, U.S. Department of Justice