SIMPLE INGREDIENTS LEAD TO DEADLY DRUG

A grocery list of a few common household products and a curiosity steeped
in the dark world of illegal narcotics is all police officials say it takes
to make methamphetamine, the newest drug explosion law enforcement
authorities said has taken over the streets of Jefferson County.

Meth, slang for methamphetamine, is the second largest drug threat in the
nation, according to local drug enforcement officers.

"It's the second biggest drug threat next to crack cocaine in Jefferson
County," Jefferson County Narcotics Task Force Sergeant Jimmy Singletary
said. "All over more rural areas in Texas, its the number one drug threat."

From cold medicine at the corner drugstore to plant fertilizer available
at a nearby feed shop, Singletary said the products used to make meth are
easy to come by.

"Meth is stripped from the chemicals in over-the-counter cold remedies,"
Singletary said. "Its a new method of creating meth."

Jefferson County Narcotics Task Force Ron Hobbs said meth makers buy small
amounts of the products needed to make meth from various stores.

"They buy only small bits at a lot of different stores to keep store
workers from knowing what they are doing," he said. "Buying small amounts
doesn't seem so obvious."

The total amount of ingredients needed to make meth, Hobbs said, can fit
inside an ice chest.

"That is what is so tricky about it all," he said. "It doesn't take much to
make the drug."

Mixing up a batch in the country

The only problem with mixing up a batch of methamphetamine, Singletary
noted, is the unmistakable smell the mixture creates.

Out in the open fields surrounding rural areas, where homes are few and far
between, police officials say labs, far from scientific, may be creating
new batches of the substance.

In the rural areas of Paris right in the heart of East Texas, 12 people
were recently charged in a 12-count indictment for the offenses of
conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine and
possession of listed chemicals. A group of Moss Hill residents were
indicted on charges of attempt to manufacture methamphetamine.

"Most meth makers prefer rural areas like those because of the distinct
odor it creates when making meth," Singletary said. "It has an odor you
will never forget and you will definitely know it when you smell it."

The makeshift labs used to manufacture meth are a far cry from the labs
that were used decades ago to create drugs, Jefferson County Narcotics Task
Force Ron Hobbs said.

"These days instead of beakers, people are using coffee pots and using baby
diapers or cheesecloth to strain the meth," he said.

The end product, Singletary said, varies in color depending on what color
cold medications used to make the drug may be. Due to the many different
production methods and household chemicals used in manufacturing meth, the
finished product varies in color, but is commonly a shade of tan or white.

"The usual way to take meth is to snort it," Hobbs said. "People start off
snorting but then move on to chasing a better high and begin injecting."

Chasing a dangerous high

When injecting meth, Hobbs said, the high is more powerful and takes over
the body of the user quicker.

"It's as addictive as crack or heroin," Hobbs said. "If someone tries it
and likes it, it's all they will be about."

Hobbs said the existence of a meth abuser is a sad and pitiful one.
Longtime users of the drug may experience extreme weight loss and sometimes
exhibit paranoid-type behavior.

Callie Henderson, a Port Neches drug abuse counselor, said even a short
period of time while experiencing the high of the drug can cause a total
loss of reality. Users may find themselves acting out situations and taking
part in actions that are completely removed from reality.

Henderson said she once visited with a meth user who experienced
hallucinations and tried to set his home on fire.

"He said a voice was telling him to burn the home because the home was
evil," Henderson said. "He got matches and gasoline and actually set the
house on fire. He then went inside the home to take a shower because he
felt hot."

"Binge cycles that are being experienced today are truly terrifying, not
only to the addicted user of meth, but to all those who come in contact
with the user," Henderson said.

There are symptoms even worse than hallucinations and hysteria. Henderson
said strokes and heart failure are also associated with the use of the drug.

Henderson said meth can cause a variety of cardiovascular problems
including rapid heart rate, irregular heart beat, increased blood pressure
and irreversible, stroke-producing damage to small blood vessels in the brain.

Chronic meth abuse, Henderson, said can result in inflammation of the heart
lining, and among users who inject the drug, damaged blood vessels and skin
abscesses. She noted that psychotic symptoms can sometimes persist for
months or years after meth use has ceased.

People using the drug look at it as just a high to take them away from the
problems they are experiencing but they don't understand that ultimately,
this drug can remove them from their life for good," she said.

Chasing the dealer

While Hobbs said he sometimes feels sorry for meth users, he looks at the
drug dealer in a totally different light.

"Most small time dealers are using some of their batch and selling the
rest," he said.

Matthew D. Orwig, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas,
recently announced the emergence of Methbusters, an aggressive initiative
implemented to address the growing problem of methamphetamine in East Texas.

Members of Methbusters plan to attack the methamphetamine scourge as the
United States Attorney's Office teams with law enforcement to prosecute
wholesale distributors of chemicals, methamphetamine cooks and dealers.

Orwig said wholesale distributors of chemicals used to manufacture meth,
including cold medicine, will be closely monitored to ensure they follow
DEA requirements in distributing the drugs.

"Methamphetamine is destroying lives. This office is committed to
disrupting the supply of this deadly drug," he said. "Those who supply
chemicals, cook or distribute methamphetamine in this district, will go to
federal prison."