OFFICIALS BRACE FOR METH EPIDEMIC

Labs On The Rise In New England

Inside a Webster home, where a woman lay unconscious of a suspected drug
overdose, police found beakers, funnels and flasks, iodine, red phosphorous
and a bottle of lye. But it was the packets of cold medication detectives
saw that triggered alarm.

Theya're known as Sudafed in stores, but here they were used to make
methamphetamine, an illegal, chemical drug that has swarmed the western
United States and, officials fear, is making its way here.

"I was actually surprised to stumble on it," said Webster Police Detective
James Hoover, who has worked on federal task forces investigating
methamphetamine labs in other parts of the country.

"Only because I have never seen one in this area," he said. "To actually
know it was here was a surprise."

It was nearly two years ago that police found the secret laboratory in
Webster. Since then, a laboratory was discovered in Chelmsford in June and
another in Lowell on Thursday, according to the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration. Still, the growing popularity of what has been called
America's deadliest drug threat, with thousands of labs discovered in the
West and Midwest, has officials in New England preparing for the worst:
more secret labs with toxic chemicals -- a new addiction, a new epidemic --
arriving here.

"Anything that is prevalent across the country is going to come here
sooner or later," said state Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester.
"It's coming. It's on its way."

She has filed a bill to restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine -- the key
ingredient for meth production, found in Sudafed and other cold remedies.
The bill mirrors legislation passed in states in the West and Midwest,
where methamphetamine has been called an epidemic.

Keith Goodhue, 30, who pleaded guilty last month to building an illegal
drug laboratory in his Webster home, told investigators he learned the
trade from a friend in New Mexico, and brought the equipment here. He
planned to sell crystal meth on the streets, where it would be a new high
for those who make heroin and OxyContin their drug of choice. It would be
his moneymaker.

Oklahoma was one of the first states to pass legislation restricting the
sale of pseudoephedrine, and has claimed success in reducing the number of
meth labs that have been found. In 2003, 1,233 meth labs discovered in
Oklahoma. The next year, when the legislation was passed, 812 labs were
discovered. Of the 812, 347, or 43 percent, were found before the law was
passed in April.

Since then, other states are following with their own legislation. More
than 30 states have passed such laws in the last two years, and at least
seven have legislation pending, according to pharmacy and chain drugstore
groups. In Oregon, cold medicines with pseudoephedrine as the sole
ingredient must be prescribed, under a law passed last month that is now
the most stringent in the country. Legislation is also pending in Congress,
having already passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In Massachusetts, Mrs. Chandler's bill would restrict the sale of
medications with pseudoephedrine to 9 grams, and any product with
pseudoephedrine as the sole ingredient would be placed behind a counter.
Customers would have to show ID, and sign a log book.

Such laws, "are definitely sweeping the country," said Mary Ann Wagner, a
spokeswoman for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which
represents stores here, including CVS Pharmacy, Brooks Pharmacy, and Rite-Aid.

Ms. Wagner said her group first opposed legislation against the sale of
remedies containing pseudoephedrine, saying it would be an inconvenience
for law-abiding customers and force stores to change their ways of operation.

But, the group found itself under increased pressure, as more states have
passed or introduced legislation restricting the sale of certain cold
remedies. Mrs. Wagner said chain stores are pushing for uniform
legislation, under laws introduced in Congress. Until then, dozens of
stores, anticipating crackdowns on the sale of medications with
pseudoephedrine, have voluntarily taken the medication off shelves and put
it behind pharmacy counters, or in security cases. The stores are following
some of the most stringent standards that have been passed, Ms. Wagner
said, calling it an effort to abide with law enforcement but at the
same time offer a product.

The production of methamphetamine has become as simple as following
cooking directions, with pseudoephedrine bought over-the-counter and mixed
with other items such as drain cleaner, Coleman fuel and coffee filters.
The ingredients are cooked and re-cooked into a final, crystal-like product
that has been named crystal meth, ice, crank, and even the working-man's
cocaine. Directions to make the drug can be found on the Internet.

"They can make it any way it takes, they can make it in a bathroom if they
know what they are doing," said Detective Hoover. HEA's seen laboratories
in basements and garages, even tractor-trailer trucks in the four years he
spent on an FBI task force. He said he has participated in several FBI and
DEA training programs, so could identify the equipment in Mr. Goodhue's home.

For the most part, however, there's no protocol in New England because law
enforcement hasn't seen the drug in abundance. Detective Hoover bets there
are police officers who, through no fault of their own, wouldn't know the
look or smell of crystal methamphetamine, because it's rare in New
England. They could see some of the ingredients but still not realize it
is a laboratory, he said.

But recent arrests and investigations show the drug is making its way here,
even if slowly. In February, Detective Hoover and others, through a
continuing investigation in Webster, arrested two teenage girls for
distributing methamphetamine. There have been arrests in Worcester for
possession of the drug. Last week in Lowell, detectives found a lab that
was booby-trapped with pipe bombs. It is a new battle for police
detectives still unfamiliar with methamphetamine.

"It's a whole different culture," said Worcester police Sgt. Timothy Oa€TM
Connor, of the vice squad, saying heroin remains the state's epidemic.
Perhaps because of the price, he said. Years ago, heroin was $40 a bag,
but can be bought now for $6.

Now, the popularity of methamphetamine and the simple process of making it
are propelling the drug into suburban communities, where users are smoking
it, snorting it, digesting it and shooting it with needles. It is called
America' s newest epidemic. Newsweek magazine featured the drug on the
cover of its latest issue. The National Association of Counties identified
it as the country's highest drug problem.

"It's just a terrible, highly addictive drug," said Utah state Sen. Gene
Davis, a member of the Reform States Group, a volunteer organization of
public officials from different states pushing for uniform legislation on
social issues. The group has commissioned a study on methamphetamine use,
identifying it as a growing threat across the country, Mr. Davis said, and
has called for legislation restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine. Mrs.
Chandler introduced legislation for Massachusetts after attending the
group's meeting in the fall, and hearing other states' stories.

"It seemed like whenever one state would bring it up, every other state
would say "'yeah, yeah yeah,'" said Mr. Davis, who said Utah has seen the
number of meth labs decrease since legislation was passed. Last year,
authorities in his state discovered 69 labs.

Mr. Davis, who has studied methamphetamine and has been on the Reform
States Group's steering committee, said the drug is becoming popular among
young women, who feel the speed feeling will help them run a household and
raise a family. "Until they crash," he said. The drug has made inroads in
the gay community, because of the euphoric feeling it triggers, raising
concerns of unprotected sex and the spread of disease, Mr. Davis said.
Statistics show teenagers have used it. It is popular in the rave
community. It promotes a criminal culture, a violent culture, Mr. Davis said.

"Methamphetamine is vicious," said Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore, an addiction
specialist and founding member of the National Library of Addictions. "The
desire is so strong, they will do anything."

Mr. Kishore, whose practice is based in Massachusetts, said methamphetamine
addicts are rare in the state, and those he treats are mostly cocaine or
heroin addicts who have perhaps tried methamphetamine. But he has treated
several people addicted to methamphetamine alone. There are those who were
addicts in Massachusetts and traveled to Utah, or California, to
visit family and found a new addiction, he said. He said methamphetamine
triggers a sensation similar to cocaine. Only it is much cheaper. And, with
the opportunity to make it at home, it is more accessible.

"The next thing you know, they come back with a meth addiction," Dr.
Kishore said. "They bring it back. Once they get addicted to it, they just
like it."

Anthony Pettigrew, spokesman for the DEA's New England field division,
said methamphetamine is a growing concern in the area, and the DEA has
teams trained in handing chemicals in clandestine laboratories. He said
most of the drugs found are mailed in from super-labs in Mexico, where the
ingredients to make it are under less scrutiny and the product is mass
produced.

Still, there is a growing concern of laboratories forming in New England,
he said, and others states are considering legislation restricting
pseudoephedrine. New Hampshire has introduced a law mirroring those passed
in other states, and Mrs. Chandler sent letters to delegates throughout
New England calling for a uniformed code. There is no point if customers
can simply travel to another state for the product, she said.

"We don't want the scourge of meth as in the West to travel to the
East," Mr. Pettigrew said. He said last week there have been seven
laboratories found in New England in 2005; three in Connecticut, two in
New Hampshire; one in Maine; and one in Massachusetts.

Mr. Pettigrew made his comments before New England's eighth laboratory was
found in Lowell on Thursday. The DEA's hazardous materials division was
called in after police in Lowell responding to a call of a weird odor and
suspicious drug activity discovered the lab.

"Once the officers arrived, they realized what they had and called in the
professionals," said Lowell police Capt. Kevin Staveley. He said three
pipe bombs were discovered, too, but it was not known then whether they
were active. Owen Neill, 25, was charged with manufacturing a class
B substance and three counts of possession of an infernal device.

There are greater concerns beyond the addiction, officials said. The
chemicals used in the process are highly toxic, and have caused
explosions. An investigating officer could accidentally tip over a bottle
of ether, Detective Hoover said. Or someone making it could mix the wrong
chemical. The production of one pound of methamphetamine releases poisonous
gas and creates five to seven pounds of toxic waste, according to the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

There are also concerns of children living in homes where the labs are
located and fumes released. Under Mrs. Chandler's proposal, any minor found
in the vicinity of a meth lab would immediately be placed in protective
custody.

There were two children in Mr. Goodhue's home in Webster when police
entered on Nov. 11, 2003. Officers were there for a woman reported
unconscious of a drug overdose. While there, they noticed fresh needle
tracks in her arm and inquired further. They feared needles were in the
room where the children were located, according to court documents. They
found the needles. Then they found a glass evaporator, a bottle of lye,
pan burners, a propane tank, coffee filters, scales, funnels, -- and
various narcotics paraphernalia including empty blister packs of cold
medication containing pseudoephedrine.

"The chemicals appeared to be in various stages of methamphetamine
manufacturing," a court affidavit reads. Mr. Goodhuea's two children were
referred to the Department of Youth Services. His wife, Susan, was in the
hospital for some time, police said.

It was only after the arrest, when court proceedings began, that
authorities learned Mr. Goodhue was placed on a federal watch list for
buying products in New Mexico that are associated with the production
of methamphetamine. He is expected to be sentenced in federal court in
October, and faces imprisonment of up to 20 years in jail.