METH USE CONTINUES TO RISE

Houston County law enforcement officials say methamphetamine-related drug
crimes are definitely on the rise in Houston County, mirroring a trend seen
all across Alabama as well as in most parts of the country.

Houston County Sheriff Lamar Glover said while methamphetamine is not new
to the Wiregrass region, the epidemic has gotten worse.

"The trend has been increasing monthly for a long time," Glover said. "It
has gotten bad in the last three or four years. But it has been going on
for about 10 years."

Outside of marijuana, methamphetamine is the most commonly used drug in
Houston County.

Glover said deputies are breaking up about one meth lab a week and are
arresting more people for possession of methamphetamine or the chemicals
used to make the drug. According to NARCONON meth lab seizures have gone up
577 percent since 1995.

Just last weekend the Houston County Sheriff's Office arrested seven area
residents at a Pansey home who were making the drug out of their Parrish
Road residence.

"We've been able to apprehend or destroy a lot of meth labs it seems over
the last six months," Glover said. "When they get a meth lab they usually
get a bunch of folks with it too."

So far Houston County deputies have made 30 meth related arrests.

Glover said he doesn't see the trend tapering off anytime soon.

Methamphetamine is a simple but dangerous concoction of legal chemicals
found in some over-the-counter cold medications and household supplies used
to "cook" the drug.

The three main ingredients, known as precursor chemicals, are ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, red phosphorous and iodine. All three can be purchased
legally at just about any convenience, grocery, pharmacy or hardware store.

The drug is made into two types: "crank," a tannish powder which comes in
rock form, and "crystal," which looks like wet sugar. Both sell for about
$100 a gram.

Methamphetamine provides a "superman-like" high which can last for up to
seven hours compared to cocaine which only lasts about 40 minutes. Users
say the drug allows them to stay up for longer periods of time, raises
their energy levels and helps them lose weight rapidly.

The drug has devastating side affects, however. It raises the heart rate to
dangerously high levels and rots both the teeth and skin.

"It absolutely destroys your health," Glover said.

Part of its increasing popularity is the fact that it can be manufactured
clandestinely-- at home, in a motel room, even the back of a car -- in a
short amount of time, cheaply and with a high profit margin.

"You can go to Wal-Mart and get the stuff and cook up a batch of meth in a
couple hours," said Houston County Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Ricky Ducker. "The
items that go into making it are cheap. It's a nasty process but it's
highly profitable."

Most of meth manufacturing occurs in rural areas, but the drug is readily
available and trafficked throughout Alabama.

Dothan Police Capt. Steve Parrish said they started seeing methamphetamine
in Dothan in the late 1990s. Meth use has steadily increased since 2000, he
said.

In 2000, Dothan Police had only 33 meth arrests. That number increased
threefold in 2001 to 96 meth-related arrests and has remained steady for
the past two years -- 84 arrests in 2002 and 89 in 2003.

As of July, the department has made 43 meth arrests.

"We're in line to see another 80 to 90 cases this year," Parrish said.

Parrish said Dothan police don't see many meth labs, but do make a lot of
arrests for possession of meth and for possession of precursor chemicals.
The department made 16 arrests for precursor ingredient violations in 2002
and 21 in 2003.

"We have noticed an increase in the violations we make on precursors,"
Parrish said. "We don't actually have to catch you cooking."

Both departments are taking a proactive approach to quell the epidemic
using a combination of traffic stops, confidential informants, undercover
investigations and drug raids to put users and makers of meth out of business.

"We're trying to make sure we keep the pressure on them so we can control
some of it as we go along," Glover said. "You can't possibly have enough
manpower to stop it."