WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? (PART 1 OF 2)

A Meth Disaster Looms In Your Own Backyard

Editor's Note: Methamphetamine is ripping apart the fabric of our
community. From the 5-year old child charged with taking care of her
infant brother because her mother is passed out from the drug, to the
rental property owner confronted with the cost of cleaning up a meth
lab, to the addict in the state pen for a crime he committed while
high on the drug, few people remain unaffected.

Starting today and running through next week, the Pioneer will
examine this growing problem with a series called, "Meth: Everyone's Problem."

The series sheds light on the monster that has infected our largely
quiet Northern Hills lives. We will explore the history of the drug
and where it comes from, the physical effects of meth on the body,
the physical, psychological and emotional effects the drug has on
children, meth education in the schools, the toxic danger of meth
labs and signs of a lab, legislation that has been enacted to fight
the problem, and ways community members can help combat meth locally.
Today, we start with the police, and reports of what an epidemic the
drug has actually become. As one officer put it, "It's worse than
smoking, it's worse than drinking, it's worse than anything."

RAPID CITY - The Northern Hills methamphetamine problem is growing,
and it doesn't show signs that it will stop any time soon, law
enforcement officials say.

Increased supply and demand on the streets, increased needle use that
indicates high levels of addiction, younger dealers and users, and
lower prices all point to an ever-growing meth problem, according to
Dale McCabe of the S.D. Division of Criminal Investigation.

"We usually only buy (drugs undercover) two or three times and that's
it," he said. "But after those two or three buys when we move on to
the next target those people are still approaching us to buy more.
That tells us we've got a lot of drugs. When they're seeking
customers they have a lot of supply. We see people literally knocking
on people's doors just to move stuff."

In fact, McCabe said some recent busts of drug trafficking
organizations (a network of three to five people involved in selling
methamphetamine) in the Rapid City area have indicated just how much
supply is out there. Some organizations, McCabe said, have been
capable of moving a pound - or more - of meth throughout the Black Hills area.

"There are 454 grams in a pound and user amounts are usually half
gram sizes," McCabe said. "That's a lot of street level dealing going on."

And statewide arrest statistics serve to confirm that fact. However,
McCabe cautioned that statistics can be deceiving. For example, a
drug trafficking organization, he said, may be capable of moving more
drugs than they are caught with, or, on the flip side, law
enforcement officials may make a drug arrest on Interstate 90 and
confiscate drugs that were bound for Chicago. But the numbers are striking.

In 2003, according to statewide statistics compiled by the S.D.
Division of Criminal Investigation, meth related arrests totaled 503.
In 2004 that number was 700. In 2005 through October, there were 604
such arrests.

Meth can be produced in highly toxic and explosive labs that can be
housed in residences, motel rooms, storage sheds, and even the trunks
of cars. Since the main ingredient is pseudoephedrine, a drug found
in common cold remedies, and recipes are plastered all over the
Internet, almost anyone could make the drug if given the right
instruction. But according to McCabe, most of the drugs that come
into the Rapid City/Northern Hills area are from Denver, while some
are funneled from Salt Lake City and Phoenix.

But a frequent common denominator, he said, is that drugs coming up
from Mexico arrive in their purest form. Since there are no Mexican
laws limiting the sale of pseudoephedrine, and it is easier to get
the other ingredients, McCabe said Mexicans are able to produce the
drug in mass quantities. They then funnel it into the Midwest, where
people are willing to pay up to $2,000 an ounce. By comparison,
McCabe said, the same ounce can go for about $500 in California,
where users who are closer to the border have easier access to the drug.

According to DCI reports, methamphetamine in the Rapid City area is
at least 80 percent pure, while a lot of meth found in the Sioux
Falls area is approximately 35 percent pure. That, McCabe said, is
because people in the Black Hills are willing to pay top dollar for
the best, and they're so addicted they won't settle for anything less.

"Users here are very picky," McCabe said. "They want the best because
the other stuff doesn't give them the effect they're looking for.
It's not different than marketing a good product in a Fortune 500
company. That's how they operate."

In addition to finding purer drugs in high demand, McCabe said
another indicator of high addiction rates is the increased evidence
of needle use DCI agents are finding. About seven or eight years ago,
he said, it was very rare to find a needle during a meth bust. Today,
he said it is rare to not find a needle.

"We find needles all the time," he said. "That's pretty sad because
that is the ultimate way to use it. People say once you use it that
way you'll never go back. We have people who are deathly afraid of
needles and they can't even inject themselves, they have to have
someone else inject them. But they still use it that way because that
is the ultimate high."

The increased needle use, McCabe said, could pose an additional,
significant risk to law enforcement officials who move in to do a drug bust.

"Now we've got the danger of being poked," he said. "Sure enough, one
of our guys a couple of years ago got poked by a needle in a house
and it just so happened that the occupants of the house had
full-blown AIDS. They had needles all over the place and they had
kids running around."

High addiction and use rates, McCabe said, are particularly
disturbing considering the rehabilitation rate of meth addicts.
According to statewide statistics, a person must go into intensive,
inpatient rehabilitation for approximately 18 months before even
having a chance at recovering from a meth addiction. That is compared
to the standard addiction model of 30-90 days in a treatment facility.

"And for somebody to do a cold turkey quit on this drug is almost
impossible," he said. "I'm sure there is a case we're not aware of.
It's worse than smoking, it's worse than drinking, it's worse than anything."

Overall, McCabe said the methamphetamine problem in the Black Hills,
particularly in smaller communities where dealers tend to dwell as
they attempt to hide from law enforcement officials, is getting
uglier and uglier.

"For a smaller community, I would say we have a significant meth
problem," he said. "It's pretty safe and pretty accurate to say that
it seems like it is growing more and more."