METH TASK FORCE SEES LULL IN LAB BUSTS

The Watauga Methamphetamine Task Force met Friday to share success
stories but also to discuss the continuing dangers and social problems
caused by illegal manufacture and use of the drug.

Maj. Paula Townsend, representing the Watauga Sheriff's Office, said
the department would not have been as successful fighting the problem
if not for community support and the work of the people associated
with the task force.

She said the county was at "a lull in the storm," with no new meth lab
discoveries since July. However, she said several were under
investigation.

"We know we've made an impact," Townsend said.

"A lot of meth cooks are currently in prison. Some are in state
prison, and we've had 14 federal indictments."

She said the sheriff's department had a great working relationship
with the Department of Social Services, which has a Drug-Endangered
Child program to help families deal with the health and emotional
effects of being raised in a meth environment.

"Every agency here has played an important role in mitigating the
problem," she said. "Now the community is aware of some of the
indications of meth labs and people are calling us on a regular basis
(with reports of suspected labs)."

Townsend said the publicity surrounding the county's success rate in
shutting down labs had driven off others who might have gone into the
trade. "We believe a lot of people who haven't been arrested have gone
elsewhere," she said. The sheriff's department has investigated 27
labs so far this year, compared to 34 for last year, the highest
number in the state.

Charles Byrd, assistant district attorney, shared statistics that
showed methamphetamine was playing a growing role in the percentage of
drug cases. At the end of 2002, there were only four people from
Watauga imprisoned on drug charges, none of them for methamphetamine.
By June 30 of last year, there were eight incarcerated for drug
charges, two of them related to meth. As of June 30 this year, there
were 21 in prison on drug charges, 14 of them for meth manufacture or
sale.

Byrd said 24th District Attorney Jerry Wilson had taken a tough stance
on methamphetamine cases from the beginning, saying he would accept no
plea bargains in lab cases and pledged to take the cases to trial.

The office also educated judges and magistrates about the problem and
its effect on the community.

Wilson even gained headlines by attempting to apply a "weapons of mass
destruction" charge in one case, hoping to highlight the seriousness
of the dangers and the lack of adequate criminal penalties to combat
the problem. The charge was later discarded by a judge.

Byrd hailed the tougher penalties passed this summer by the General
Assembly that take effect on Dec. 1 that he said would change the way
meth cases are handled.

"The most significant change is manufacturing will now be a Class C
felony," he said. "Right now, it's a Class H."

Byrd said that the penalty for making meth would go from five or six
months to between 58 and 73 months in prison and would carry an
automatic active sentence of at least a year.

Ten more chemicals were also added to the list of precursor chemicals
used in illegal meth production, which will broaden the potential
charges that can be adding in a lab trial. Possessing precursor
chemicals with intent to manufacture meth will become a Class F felony
in December.

If an emergency responder, police officer, or fire fighter is injured
in a lab investigation, then an additional penalty of two years can be
added to any sentence. Defendants can also be charged with murder if
someone dies as a result of meth manufacture or distribution, and
federal charges can be applied in some cases if weapons are involved.

Byrd said remaining meth cooks may be hiding in more remote areas or
manufacturing in the woods to evade detection, but he thinks the
increased punishment will help.

He said one defendant had been arrested for possession of precursor
chemicals and told prosecutors "All my cooks are in prison. I was
trying to make it myself."

Emergency management director Lisa Danner said her department had been
educating the public about the health risks of labs and also the risk
of fire or explosion. She said children in lab environments do not
have a place to go and are "put in situations where they don't have a
choice."

The department also works with parents who have been arrested on meth
charges to explain the dangers they are putting their children in.
Danner said the department has seen nine clients, eight of them single
parents.

She said in traveling to emergency management conferences, people from
other counties are impressed with the efforts Watauga has undertaken.

Watauga Health Department has conducted outreach with local pharmacies
to explain the chemicals used in meth manufacture and ask them to be
aware of customers who seem to be stockpiling chemicals.
Pseudoephedrine, found in many over-the-counter cold remedies, is a
basic ingredient in meth production.

Cheryl Fox, Watauga County school nurse, said there were symptoms
common to children from meth environments. She said they are often
dirty, hungry, anxious and have attendance problems. They are under
stress because they are told by parents not to talk about what is
happening in the home. "They are distracted from learning," Fox said.
"They have a lot of chronic health problems."

About three-fourths of methamphetamine users who go through counseling
are men, and about a fourth of those have been successful quitting.
The counseling involves Narcotics Anonymous, 12-step programs and
church activities.

Jim Thornton, a counselor at New River Behavioral Health Care, talked
about his family counseling work and said, in one case, a family had
to be fragmented in order for the kids to be reunited.

He said the community and the task force had broken new ground and was
serving as an example for statewide and national efforts.

Friday's meeting was also an appreciation event for the Community
Child Protection Team, with food donated by Earth Fare of Boone.