METH CRACKDOWN PUTS FOCUS ON COMMON DRUGS

Federal law officials in East Texas are targeting the businesses that
provide ingredients used to make methamphetamine, hoping a crackdown
on allergy and cold medications can curb what they call a growing epidemic.

Meth cooks use pseudoephedrine, found in over-the-counter medications
such as Sudafed and Robitussin, to manufacture the highly addictive
stimulant.

Although it once was a dangerous, time-consuming process, law
officials say evolving methods have simplified the drug's creation and
have allowed meth use to more than double in recent years.

"It's kind of like the invention of the microwave. It just keeps
getting easier," said Mary Ann Cozby, an assistant U.S. attorney in
Tyler.

Federal prosecutors say meth cooks get much of their pseudoephedrine
in bulk from some convenience stores and unscrupulous discount
retailers. Those providers ignore guidelines set by the Drug
Enforcement Administration that limit the sale of pseudoephedrine to
about three ounces per purchase.

After getting hold of pseudoephedrine and other chemicals, meth cooks
set up makeshift labs in homes, motel rooms and vehicles, and
officials say it can cost taxpayers about $7,000 to clean up the toxic
chemicals after a bust.

Prolonged meth use also can have toxic effects on a person's body,
officials say. Users often have open sores and rotten teeth.

Brian Ray, an agent with the Gregg County Organized Drug Enforcement
unit, said that inside Longview city limits, crack cocaine is still a
bigger problem than meth. Though they say they don't know why, law
officers find crack cocaine use primarily among blacks, while meth
users tend to be white.

The drugs have similiarly destructive qualities, said Doug Whitten, an
FBI agent from Plano.

Oklahoma, one of the states hardest hit by meth, passed new laws in
April that restrict access to pseudoephedrine and limit the amount
customers can purchase in a 30-day period. The medicine must be
purchased through a pharmacy, and customers must provide photo
identification and sign a register.

Since April, Oklahoma has seen lab seizures fall by 70 percent across
the state.

Now Texas and other states are pushing for similar laws. Texas Rep.
Leo Berman, R-Tyler, said he'll propose statewide restrictions on cold
and allergy medications during the 2005 legislative session.

In another effort, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District
of Texas has brought together federal, state and local law enforcement
officials to fight meth manufacturing as part of its Operation Meth
Busters initiative.

Meth Busters teaches law officers strategies to build cases against
meth manufacturers and dealers so that U.S. and district attorneys can
aggressively prosecute the crimes.

The initiative also will pursue civil cases against store owners and
employees who improperly sell products containing pseudoephedrine, as
well as wholesalers who falsify records to sell the medication in
bulk, Cozby said.

In their effort to shut down meth labs in East Texas, law officers
have an unlikely and unwanted ally: Mexican drug cartels. The cartels
already have taken over the meth business in big cities such as Dallas
and Houston, Whitten said, and they're gaining on the East Texas trade, too.

That's because they sell a more potent version of meth called "ice."
East Texans haven't figured out how to make it, said Whitten, who was
in Tyler on Tuesday for a Meth Busters meeting.

Instead, he said, Mexican drug makers are pumping ice into Texas and
beyond.

"Over the next year or two, you'll see less and less manufacturing,"
he said.