'CANDIED' METH IMPACTS REGION

If someone were to mention the terms "bright red" and
"strawberry-flavored," it would probably bring up images of ice cream or
candy, not drugs.

However, two arrests in the High Country in September by the Ashe County
Sheriff's Office and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation have brought
light to a possible new trend in crystal methamphetamines drugs that the
terms "bright red" and "strawberry flavored" describe perfectly.

"[These flavored and colored drugs] are the same crystal methamphetamines
that we've had for a long time," said Carson Puckett, a narcotics
investigator with the Boone Police Department. "They've just added food
coloring and flavoring to entice users."

Drug Enforcement Agency spokesperson Rogene Waite said there have not been
a significant number of recorded flavored crystal methamphetamine incidents.

"We're not seeing a lot of [flavored methamphetamines] now," Waite said.
"It could be something whereby people have developed a new market to try to
appeal to younger people."

Not everyone believes these drugs have been created or designed to be
"flavored" or even necessarily "colored" to entice young users.

According to an article by Barbara Mikkelson on national rumor Web site
Snopes.com, "Police labs don't generally test drugs for flavoring
ingredients, so some of the statements about seizures of flavored
[methamphetamines] might have been based solely on the drug's brightly-hued
appearance and not on its actual taste."

Mikkelson said only a couple of incidents like the one in the High Country
have occurred and others in a few states including Nevada, "but it does not
seem to be an issue currently."

Puckett said there have been no incidents in Boone with this colored
crystal methamphetamine.

However, he said, "[This drug] would have an impact...just not sure how to
gauge [the impact]."

Sheriff James Williams said in an article about arrests made outside
Lansing in September, "The methamphetamine seized in this case is a pink
ice-looking substance and smells like strawberries."

"The Ashe County Sheriff's Office has received intelligence information on
this type of methamphetamine from the D.E.A. stating that it is made to
look like and smell like a strawberry candy, specifically to entice young
teenagers," Williams said.

Currently no actions or programs stemming from these new drugs have been
taken or initiated by the D.E.A.