METH TAKES BIG TOLL, 'OUT OF HAND' IN COUNTY

On the street, it's called crank, go-go juice, or Nazi dope, but area
professionals are calling it an epidemic and a scourge. It can be
snorted, smoked, eaten, or injected

It's methamphetamine, or meth, and local experts say everyone is
affected, whether they use it or not.

"It's an epidemic -- it's out of hand," said Daniel Morrison, commander
of the Calhoun-Gordon County Drug Task Force.

While a majority of the drug, which is made from ephedrine and an
array of toxic chemicals, including antifreeze and/or drain cleaner,
is being shipped into the area, Morrison said there has been an
increase in "clandestine," or home, labs.

"This year, we've found 16 labs, compared to four last year," he said.
The number of cases investigated is expected to double, he said.

Morrison, who has been on the drug task force since 1998, said the
availability of the ingredients and the flexibility of the recipes
makes it easy to set up a lab and bring in profits.

"All the ingredients can be purchased at Wal-Mart or dollar stores for
under $400," said Morrison. That will produce an ounce of meth, which
will sell for about $1,000 - netting the manufacturer a profit of about $600.

"There are recipes all over the Internet, some take as little at 30
minutes, some four hours -- some can even be made in the trunk of a
car," he said.

But easy does not mean safe, he said. Some of the chemicals used such
as battery acid, lantern fuel, and hydrochloric acid are very toxic
and/or explosive.

While anyone can pick up the newspaper and read who was arrested for
methamphetamines, it doesn't paint a clear picture of how prevalent
the problem is.

"The problems you don't see are forgery, the financial card theft.
Those are the results of drug use," said District Attorney Joseph
Campbell. "That impacts our caseload as well as the straight drug cases."

Scott Smith is the special prosecutor for drug cases and has worked on
federal drug cases.

"It's by far the leading drug now," said Smith, adding it outnumbers
marijuana and cocaine.

"Of 16 drug cases this year, half were meth alone, the other half was
either marijuana, coke or prescription drug cases," he said.

He said the rise has been recent, over the last decade. "In 1993,
about 10 percent of our cases involved meth, now it's the single
most-used drug here."

Smith said he finds it interesting that meth is more of a rural drug
than a city drug.

"Atlanta doesn't have the meth problem we have here," said Smith, who
often attends drug seminars.

At one of those seminars a few months ago in Atlanta, he heard two
Cobb County officials talking about meth.

"They said they had two meth cases in the past year -- we had two last
week," Smith said earlier, adding that there are several factors as to
why meth is more of a problem in Calhoun than metro Atlanta.

"Coke is so available there, they haven't started making it and people
live so close together there. Here it's easier to have a clandestine
lab."

Morrison, with the drug task force, said there has been an increase in
the number of clandestine labs in Gordon County.

But clandestine labs, labs set up in homes, or even in car trunks are
only part of the problem, said experts.

"We have some made here, but most of the labs we see aren't busting
out pounds of meth -- they're making it for themselves and a few
friends," said Smith.

The biggest suppliers aren't making the meth here, experts
agree.

"It's controlled by the Hispanic population and comes from out west."
said Morrison.

Smith agrees. "The staging area is Mexico."

In the past, meth would be shipped from across the border to
California, and then brought east, but with the rise of immigration,
meth is coming straight from Mexico to the east coast, including
Gordon County.

"Now what we have is the rise of the Latino, Hispanic -- it's a
pipeline now," said Smith.

While the effects on various community systems is evident -- a backlog
of cases, shortage of investigators -- the effects on families are
nothing short of devastating, experts agree.

David Smith, a superior court judge in Gordon County, says he
frequently sees the results of methamphetamines.

"In a typical day, I'll preside over several divorce cases where meth
has caused the marriage to dissolve, and in the afternoon, I'll
preside over several criminal cases that involve it," he said.

The judge said about one-third of the cases he sees involves the
drug.

"It affects the whole family. If a parent is spending time and money
on this drug, the children are being neglected," he said.

Getting involved is one way to make an impact, but one problem is
getting the general public to do that, law enforcement and court
officials said.

"Most people don't want to get involved because they don't think it
affects them, but it does," said Morrison. "It affects everybody."

Scott Smith agrees. "When your lawnmower or weed eater disappears,
it's so they can pawn it for money to buy drugs."

Morrison said he understands the reluctance based on fear, and the
task force strives to make reporting someone as safe as possible.

He encourages people to use their confidential tip sheet located on
their Web site or to call the task force.

"You don't have to leave your name," he said. "We investigate all
complaints."

He also said that one doesn't need to know a dealer to have valuable
information -- knowing a user can help the task force find the dealer.

But while Morrison stresses the importance of being involved, he
cautions against taking the law into your own hands or tampering with
a lab.

"If you find a lab, get away from it and call 911," he said. "If you
start tampering with stuff, it gets dangerous."

Across the board, education was stressed, whether it be the mental
effects, the physical, or the consequences; talking about the problem
is a must, they said.

"Most people don't think it affects them," said Morrison, "but it
affects everybody."

To learn more, or report suspicious activity confidentially, visit the
Calhoun/Gordon County Drug Task Force at http://www.cgcddtf.org.