METH USE SPEEDS WAY PAST POT

MENARD - Sheriff Bruce Hough said he's dismayed by the explosion in
methamphetamine production and use in rural West Texas. Rural areas have
always had a small drug culture, Hough said, but methamphetamine use has
made a sharp increase in the past two years.

Hough said he grew up in the small town of Menard and has seen how drug use
hurt some of the people he grew up with.

"Some of the people who get away from it turn out to be successful people
and do something with their life," Hough said. "Others who are still using
have done nothing. Their kids have grown up and become users themselves.
They are still living house to house and job to job and spend every dime
they make on meth."

Last year, the Menard County Sheriff's Department made 40 methamphetamine
arrests, busted two labs and confiscated more than 185 grams of
methamphetamine worth about $20,000. Both locals and people passing through
the county were among those arrested, Hough said.

Menard methamphetamine arrests outnumber marijuana arrests almost seven to
one, according to statistics provided by the sheriff's office. And monthly
use in Menard is estimated at 32 ounces, according to those statistics.

Menard County has about 2,329 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau
Web site.

"We know what is going on," Hough said. "We know the people who are
dealing. We are just trying to do everything in the world to make a stop."

The department has been successful making arrests because it works closely
with other county sheriff departments, the Department of Public Safety and
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Hough said.

One local person was stopped after a worker in a local hardware store
called and told the department someone was buying iodine, which is used in
making methamphetamine, Hough said.

The department made another arrest after a newborn baby tested positive for
the drug, Hough said.

"I just don't understand their fascination with it," Hough said. "We take
out one family member, and they get sent to penitentiary, and a younger
brother takes it on. And they get a little smarter. They are getting more
leery about coming to Menard. They know we are looking for them."

Methamphetamines have gotten easier to manufacture, allowing many users to
cook the drug themselves, said Menard Chief Deputy Burl Hagler. One
ingredient, anhydrous ammonia, is commonly used as an agricultural fertilizer.

Hagler worked for the Southwest Texas Narcotics Task Force that covered
Mason, Junction, McCulloch, Kimble and Menard for three years and said
methamphetamine has increased throughout the area.

"The main chemicals are readily available," he said. "There are some good
kids that started and now are pretty much zeroes. Some don't have a job,
and when they do keep a job, the money just goes to speed."

The McCulloch County Sheriff's Department has made 64 drug-related arrests
this year, the majority of which are methamphetamine cases, said Sheriff
Earl Howell. Howell has been sheriff for seven years and was chief deputy
three years before that.

Methamphetamine use has been increasing for about six years in the county,
he said. There has been an increase in higher-grade methamphetamine
commonly referred to as "crystal meth," Howell said.

"It is so cheap and easy to make," he said. "If you know how to make it,
there seems to be a market for it. You can make a lot of money with a small
investment. It seems like there are more people out in the country trying
to make it."