ILLINOIS STATE POLICE AGENT TALKS ABOUT METH

Illinois State Police Agent Hank Graves chuckled when he recalled the
days when alcohol was a major problem for law enforcement.

"Now, beer is the least of our problems," he said.

The obvious culprit these days is methamphetamine and it makes other
drugs seem tame in comparison.

"Crack cocaine is candy compared to this stuff," Graves
said.

Graves spoke about meth, its effects and dangers during an
informational meeting at Gus & Mary Sliva Auditorium at East Richland
High School on Monday night.

The program kicked off Red Ribbon Week and was sponsored by East
Richland School District and Southeastern Illinois Drug Task Force.

Graves began his talk by passing around various pictures that showed
how meth can destroy a body, including one in which a man's hand
appeared to have somewhat melted because it came into contact with
anhydrous.

"It will literally eat your lungs out," Graves said, adding that
people who inhale anhydrous fumes can die a gruesome death by having
their eyes pop out while lung material seeps from their mouth.

Graves said the smell of anhydrous and ether, another ingredient used
in making meth, is so well known to officers that they could obtain a
search warrant based on just on the smells of those chemicals.

Describing the Nazi method of making meth, Graves said anhydrous,
pseudoephedrine and lithium are used in the process that is most
common in this area.

While restrictions have been made to reduce number of items of meth
maker can buy at one time, especially pseudoephedrine, many people are
finding more ways to be elusive to make the drug.

Graves said meth was brought to this area by bikers who mainly used
the red phosphorous method, which is much more dangerous.

Going through the steps to manufacture meth and describing the dangers
of each ingredient, Graves said the problem has gotten so prevalent in
many areas of the country that there are specialized teams that deal
solely with the clean up of meth labs.

Many people make meth for themselves and share their creation with
some of the people who helped them get the ingredients, Graves said.
Few are dealers.

Many people in this area smoke meth, although it can also be snorted
and injected, Graves said.

Meth is highly addictive and initial users can get a 30-minute rush of
euphoria and have a high that can last for days.

Meth users tend to be working class people, some of whom have
well-paying jobs, Graves said. Most men who use it are between the
ages of 30-45 while women users are between 25-45.

It is as much of a social drug as alcohol.

However, it is not as prevalent among younger people because there is
a level of awareness about its effects and more controls in their
lives that help keep them away from it.

Graves said many people may have had some type of drug activity in
their lives before they started using meth.

People want it so bad that they stop caring for their children. They
can also see things that are not real and have rapidly declining health.

Hundreds of children are turned over to foster care because their
parents are addicted to meth, Graves said.

Between 6 to 7 percent of people who are addicted to meth are
successfully treated.

While sending many users to prison is not the complete solution,
Graves said it has saved many lives. When he interviews some of the
people he has arrested he can smell the drug on them, which has a
scent that is comparable to a combination of cat urine and mayonnaise.

About half of the people who are arrested thank authorities for
sending them to prison, knowing that is the only way they could get
away from drugs.

But a big problem is that many of them go right back to their former
way of life once they are released.

During the presentation, several people in the audience said they are
recovering meth addicts.

One man said he took meth for 25 years and has been clean for six
months. He also said he is trying establish a program to help others
who want to get off the drug and successfully recover.

A woman said she sees herself as a success story and thanked her
probation officer for being her "guardian angel."

Graves agreed that there is a solution to the problem but that it is
just now getting started. He said it takes a significant emotional
experience to get through the problems of being a meth addict.