RURAL METH LABS GROW, REPORT SAYS

Methamphetamine labs are rapidly infiltrating rural communities across the
country, according to a new report by the Council of State Governments. .
Henry urges action on meth bill

Oklahoma is not immune, said the report released Wednesday. Only 10 such
labs were seized in the state by federal and local law agencies in 1994.

In 2003, more than 1,200 were confiscated, or a nearly 11,900 percent
increase.

But state authorities say the biggest increase in labs is in more populated
areas of Oklahoma.

In 2003, Tulsa and Oklahoma counties were the top two in the state for
confiscated labs, with 239 and 222 labs, respectively. Statistics also show
that children are often living in these lab environments and are exposed to
the drug.

In Tulsa County, for example, more than 90 percent of the children found
during 2003 in houses where labs were operating tested positive for the
drug, state officials said Wednesday.

"You find the labs where the people are because that is where these cookers
find the folks to consume their product," said Mark Woodward, spokesman for
the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

The business of arresting drug manufacturers can be a hazardous one, he and
other law enforcement officials said.

"Each time is more dangerous," said Major County Sheriff Tom Shaffer,
president of the Oklahoma Sheriffs Association.

"Every time you go back to arrest them again, they are more hooked on the
drug and more paranoid. Plus, they always have guns," Shaffer said.

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was killed Dec. 26 when he attempted to
question an ex-firefighter investigators say was cooking methamphetamine in
a car parked on a rural Cotton County road near Devol.

Ricky Ray Malone has been charged with first-degree murder in connection
with the killing of trooper Nikky Joe Green.

Green's death is prompting state lawmakers to consider a new statute giving
judges the ability to deny bonds for methamphetamine cooks.

It also would restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine tablets to pharmacies.
The measure, House Bill 2176, is still being worked upon by Oklahoma's
Legislature.

Gov. Brad Henry on Wednesday called on lawmakers to pass the measure.

The Council of State Governments report tracks the growth of methamphetamine
use by analyzing the numbers of labs seized by federal authorities during
past years.

It addresses numerous issues that local and state leaders face, including a
lack of money for enforcement and drug treatment programs.

The report says 31 percent of all local and state law enforcement agencies
consider methamphetamine abuse their primary drug threat.

It points out that cooking the drug is particularly attractive in rural
areas because dwellings are farther apart and because smaller law
enforcement agencies usually aren't as well equipped to combat the problem
as their urban counterparts.

Shaffer, the Major County sheriff, agrees the problem is growing quickly in
rural areas.

"Without a doubt, methamphetamine is our biggest problem in Oklahoma; we
rank second in the nation for the number of users on a per-capita basis,"
Shaffer said. "A lot of it is because we are so rural."

Wide open spaces make meth production, with its pungent smell, harder to
detect. And it is easier to get the ingredients, the report states. A meth
ingredient used in fertilizer isn't available in stores but is often stolen
from storage tanks on farms.

"It is a growing problem that is difficult to combat," Shaffer said.

Shaffer said part of Oklahoma's problem is the lack of ways to get drug
addicts the treatment they need.

The sheriff said drug abusers or manufacturers who commit violent crimes
should be sent to prison. But he also said he isn't sure prison is the right
place to send nonviolent offenders.

Having them in jail costs counties more money because of their medical
problems and their lengths of stays.

"It's a revolving door for many of these people," Shaffer said. "And you
can't treat a methamphetamine addict in 28 days. There is just no way. They
need a good solid year in a treatment facility, with a lot of counseling and
support group help."

K.C. Moon, director of Oklahoma's Criminal Justice Resource Center, agreed
with Shaffer.

Oklahoma only spends a fraction of what other states do on average for drug
treatment programs, he said.

"We need more money to provide more intense treatments for some of these
people," Moon said.