A GLOBAL MENACE

Meth Labs, Addicts Growing At An Alarming Rate, Stats Show

By the numbers

Meth arrests statewide remain the top drug charge for a second consecutive
year. State agents and regional narcotics task force officers arrested 727
people on meth charges in the 2003 fiscal year ending in June, compared to
849 meth arrests for fiscal year 2002.

South Mississippi numbers for the first eight months of this calendar year:

Labs dismantled: 10 in the Gulfport district (Harrison, Hancock and Stone
counties) and 3 in the Pascagoula district (Jackson, George and Green
counties).

District cases: 113 people arrested on meth-related charges in both districts.

- - STATE BUREAU OF NARCOTICS

Possible indicators of a meth lab: Strong chemical smells, heavy traffic at
all hours and windows open year-round.

Signs of meth use: Tremors or "tweaking;" sores on the face or arms from
obsessive picking of the skin; excessive talking; long periods without
sleep; fever as high as 108 degrees; heavy sweating; grinding teeth;
agitation; hallucinations; changes in mood, interests and friends;
increased pulse rate and blood pressure; decreased appetite; depression.

Signs of exposure: Breathing problems; skin, eye and nose irritation;
headaches; nausea; dizziness; confusion.

Health risks for users: Psychosis, cancer, respiratory damages,
hypothermia, convulsions, depression, suicidal tendencies, or death by
heart failure, stroke or brain damage.

Ingredients: Meth is made with toxic, flammable ingredients that include
drain cleaner, paint thinner, battery acid, antifreeze and pseudoephedrine,
a drug used in cold and decongestant tablets.

The recipe: The average cook teaches 10 people a year how to make it.
Others find recipes on the Internet.

Environmental concerns: Every pound of meth produced leaves behind 5 to 6
pounds of toxic waste.

The finished product: White, odorless powder or its most concentrated form,
a crystallized rock often called "crystal meth" or "ice."

Costs: Average street costs are $100 a gram, $1,200 an ounce or $14,500 a
pound.

History: First made in 1887 from ephedrine and used as medicine in China.
Sold in the United States as a nasal spray in the 1930s. Used by World War
II soldiers to improve their performance. Declared illegal in the U.S. by
the Controlled Substances Act in 1970.

- - DEA, MBN, DRUG AWARENESS NETWORK, SAFER CHILD INC.

Dangers associated with methamphetamine and the fact that the highly
addictive drug can be manufactured anywhere make it one of the fastest
growing drug problems in the state.

The rampant use and abundance of meth has led to an increase in related
arrests, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, whose agents
arrest more people on meth charges than any other type of drug.

However, Mississippi isn't alone in meth problems. The illegal synthetic
narcotic has swept like wildfire nationwide from the West Coast to the East
Coast. Meanwhile, meth and other amphetamine-related drugs have become a
global problem and broken traditional drug-trafficking patterns, according
to DEA and the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.

Fascination with the illegal stimulant, which gives users a feeling of
invincibility and endless energy, is believed to lead to addiction in as
little as four months. Studies back this up, and show that the craving
tempts meth users to collect the dangerous ingredients and start cooking it
themselves.

Unlike other types of drugs, meth is manufactured fairly simply with mostly
household products and derivatives of cough and allergy medications from
directions posted on the Internet or recipes shared by cooks.

In 1995, narcotics officers found only five meth labs in Mississippi. The
number had grown to 229 last year. Related arrests skyrocketed to hundreds
a year after state legislators passed laws that cracked down on possession
of its ingredients and doubled penalties for those who make it in the
presence of children.

In the past two years, state agents and narcotics task force officers have
arrested nearly 1,600 people on meth-related charges. About 61 percent of
all drug arrests in South Mississippi between January and August involved
meth, said Randy Johnson, MBN regional meth director.

Meth continues to make headlines in South Mississippi. However, the general
public doesn't see the devastation from prolonged meth use unless they
personally know an addict, said Harrison County District Attorney Cono Caranna.

"We can't even recognize some of them when we pull out booking pictures,"
Caranna said. "It doesn't even look like them.

"Meth is a debilitating poison that takes attractive people and turns them
into an emaciated, unkempt and wrinkled shell of a person."

Health officials say prolonged use causes permanent health problems that
also canbe passed on through birth defects.

Meth doesn't cause a large number of overdoses, but its side effects, such
as paranoia, are more likely to land users in jail than an emergency room,
according to the Drug Reform Coordination Network. Several South
Mississippi hospitals report only a few ER visits a year that are directly
associated with the drug itself.

Public safety officials also blame meth for a growing number of fires,
burns and shootings.

"The people who use it and make it aren't in their right mind, and they can
easily resort to violence, especially if law enforcement officers come in
contact with them," Caranna said.

Harrison County sheriff's deputies who became the target of gunfire while
investigating a foul chemical smell at a Saucier home can testify to the
potential dangers. Neighbors who witnessed the gunfire didn't realize a
meth lab was operating in their midst.

In another high-profile incident, firefighters who put out a blaze at a
Gulfport home later realized the home had meth ingredients; enough, they
estimated, to have caused an explosion large enough to take out an entire
city block.

North Gulfport residents experienced related problems earlier this year
when a botched attempt to steal anhydrous ammonia, one of meth's
ingredients, caused a leak that released a toxic cloud and required the
evacuation of a square-mile area.

Narcotics officials emphasize that it's not just a South Mississippi
problem. DEA and the UN's drug prevention agency point to a recent meth
seizure in San Gabriel, Calif., as evidence of the global rise of synthetic
illegal drugs. Law enforcement officers determined that 70 pounds of meth
found in a storage unit in August came from Asia and represented an
organized crime effort with a drug supply worth more than $2 million.

Both agencies identify meth and other synthetic drugs, such as amphetamines
and the club drug known as ecstasy, as the most dangerous illegal drug
trend to hit the international market since cocaine and heroin gained
popularity some two decades ago.

Countries that have liberal drug laws and sophisticated pharmaceutical
industries are fueling an international demand, even in countries that have
stiff drug laws but a somewhat socially acceptable attitude toward
"pill-popping." That, according to the DEA, is one of the aspects that
makes meth the "number one" threat to rural America. Since the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, DEA has linked several drug-trafficking organizations
with providing financial support for terrorist activity.

A UN report estimates that more than 34 million people worldwide are hooked
on meth and other amphetamine-type stimulants, compared to about 15 million
heroin addicts and about the same number of cocaine abusers.

Meth facts