POLICE: METH 'PLAGUE' UPON US

Welcome To The Crazed, Violent World Of Methamphetamine.

Convicted meth maker Gregory Beckman, 42, told police his brother was
shooting at him with paint balls filled with acid, so Beckman shot him in
the head.

Police say, however, they think the Frayser brothers were feuding over a
stolen tank of anhydrous ammonia, a key material in the production of
methamphetamine, also called "crystal meth," "bikers' coffee," or "crank."
The purer product is referred to as "ice," and is generally produced in
mega-labs on the West Coast.

The meth problem has mushroomed in Shelby County and Tennessee since 1999
when 137 meth labs were shut down statewide. Last year, authorities closed 555.

So far this year, 62 labs have been shut down in Shelby County alone.

"It's not an epidemic, it's a plague," said Memphis Police Insp. Richard
Sojourner, commander of the Vice/Narcotics Unit.

Meth, a derivative of amphetamine, is cheap to make using ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, an ingredient of many cold and sinus medicines. The drug
produces a very intense, long-lasting high. But it's also dangerous to make
and users experience a rapid physical, mental and emotional decline.

Unlike other illegal drugs, meth comes with a special set of costs - for
cleaning up toxic chemicals discovered in clandestine labs, for treating
burns and exposure to toxins, for caring for permanently disabled users and
their neglected and abandoned children. (Statewide, the Tennessee
Department of Children's Services has taken about 600 children from parents
involved in meth crimes in the past 21 months.)

The labs - set up in bedrooms, garages, even cars - pose the danger of
explosion. The materials themselves are toxic and the cleanup costs from
$1,000 to $25,000.

Such labs are especially dangerous in urban areas, said Special Tennessee
DEA Agent Vincent Morgano of Nashville.

"If one blows up in the woods, it's nowhere near as dangerous as one that
blows up in the middle of Shelby County," Morgano said.

Most meth cooks are inexperienced, using a formula from friends or the
Internet, spending $200 to make $2,000 worth of product, he said.

Police say a kilogram of ice can go for $30,000 to $60,000, while most meth
sells for about $22,000 to $38,000 a kilogram. Cocaine, in contrast, sells
for $18,000 to $26,000 a kilogram.

Users purchase the drug by the gram, which is about as much as in a
one-serving pack of sugar. Costs range from $250 to $300 for a gram of ice,
$80 to $150 for crystal meth and $50 to $60 for cocaine.

In the past 18 months, several dozen people with chemical burns sustained
in suspected meth operations have come to the Regional Medical Center at
Memphis for treatment, said Dr. Stephen King, medical director of the burn
unit.

"The whole place goes up, and you have significant burns," he said.

Since meth users typically don't have health insurance, taxpayers pick up
the tab for treatment, often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even
when there is no fire, anhydrous ammonia used in the process can burn the
lungs beyond repair. That and other toxic materials settle in floors and
rugs in high concentrations. Kids absorb it through their toys.

"You breathe some of this stuff, and it's over," Sojourner said.

The Memphis Police Vice/Narcotics officers assigned to meth investigations
have rigorous physical examinations every year, checking for sinus and lung
damage caused by exposure to toxins during drug busts. Those medical
records are to be kept indefinitely because the long-term effects are not
known.

On the other hand, the dangers of abusing meth are well documented.
Prolonged use causes brain damage similar to a stroke. "The physical
changes are obvious," Sojourner said.

Users become extremely paranoid and edgy, especially when they're coming
down from a high - which explains why they're sometimes called "tweakers."
They may spend days doing pointless yard work or playing marathon video games.

One officer described a home where untended children crawled on floors
filthy with spilled chemicals and dog feces. Yet in the yard, a meth addict
had built a labyrinthine brick walkway through a flower garden.

Unlike other drug dealers, meth dealers generally snort or shoot up their
profits.

"From all appearances, they don't have anything," Sojourner said. So when
they get busted, there aren't any assets to seize to help pay for the
expensive cleanups.

Methamphetamine is perhaps the most addictive drug around, and it destroys
the users more quickly than perhaps any other. Within a year, a person in
good health can become mentally unbalanced and physically ill. Rev. Reg
Fowler of the Calvary Colony Men's Recovery Center on Benjestown Road has
seen a fair number of meth addicts come through his program, some so sick
they can't be treated.

"The level of paranoia rivals anything I've seen," Fowler said. "It makes
it more difficult to build that relationship of trust" necessary for treatment.

On the short term, the user exhibits hyperactivity, decreased appetite and
a dramatically increased libido.

Long term, there's paranoia, psychotic behavior, depression, dying libido.

"You see a lot of aggressiveness," including suicidal and homicidal
behavior, said Tom Middleton, senior mental health specialist with
Methodist Healthcare's Memphis hospitals.

One meth investigator said users are especially dangerous because they lose
their ability to reason, have no control over their emotions and "a
tremendous number are carrying weapons."

Recently, large amounts of higher grade "ice" have been confiscated from
out-of-town travelers, the product of "super labs" on the West Coast.

At the same time, there's been a drop in the number of meth labs busted by
police, said Maj. Dewey Betts of the Memphis police vice narcotics unit.
This he attributes to stepped up policing.

But the hunting season is beginning, a time when hunters uncover meth labs
in the woods, said state prosecutor Bobby Carter, director of the West
Tennessee Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.

"They go back in the woods and stumble onto Beavis and Butthead" cooking
meth, he said.