METHAMPHETAMINE HITS CLOSE TO HOME

Headlines reading "methamphetamine" barely gather attention nowadays,
even though clandestine labs are closed down and the finished meth is
found with regularity during arrests.

Court and jail populations have swollen, a direct effect of meth,
especially when the user turns to theft, burglary and forgery to
support the addiction. Protective agencies and hospitals see the
devastating effects on those involved in the addict's life.

Jack, a narcotics agent with the Grayson County Sheriff's Office, said
when speaking to a local service club, "Within one mile of your house
today is a working meth lab." Those sitting around the tables looked
at each other with disbelief, as if saying in unison, "Oh, yeah?"

Yet, meth labs have been found in rural woods, in car trunks or pickup
beds, and in two-story brick mansions and tract houses, in abandoned
office buildings and run-down travel trailers. The most common lab
sites are either in kitchens or garages where the manufacturing
process is carried out under less-than-controlled, hazardous conditions.

Meth cooks often set up disposable labs that can produce a few grams
to several ounces of meth, using ingredients that are easy to obtain
in over-the-counter medications. The recipes call for pseudoephedrine
(commonly found in many cold remedies or sold as pep-up pills in
corner stores) and a handful of other chemicals, some flammable and
others toxic, and equipment easily purchased at or stolen from farm
supply, discount stores, or pharmacies. Within six hours, a cook can
have a batch ready for use.

"A Friday fire in McKinney is believed to be the result of a
clandestine drug lab explosion. Two men were hospitalized with
critical injuries resulting from the explosion and fire." -- Herald
Democrat, 2002

In that instance, people ran over two men to escape, leaving one
severely burned and one who died later of his burns.

In 2001, Grayson County deputies closed down an active lab found
beneath a manufactured home. Sleeping in their beds directly above the
lab were two children, the offspring of the meth cook.

Last month, an Oklahoma mother faced a jury because her baby was
breast-fed methamphetamine-laced mother's milk.

So, what is this homemade drug that beckons so strongly and leaves
such a wake of ruin in its path, engulfing people of all ages, sexes
and ethnicities?

Technically put, methamphetamine is a highly-addictive stimulant that
affects the central nervous system with a high potential for abuse.
Users smoke, inject, snort, or just swallow it by capsule. The more
common methamphetamine is known on the streets as speed, zip, go-fast,
or crank, and is generally a white to dark-brown powder. In its
stronger form of crystal meth, also known as ice, crystal, shards, or
glass, it's a crystaline powder, clear or almost transparent.

Recovering addict Greg said at a 12-step recovery program meeting that
he "smoked, choked, toked, or poked" the drug to get high. He said
that high, while intense, was often too brief.

The Drug Identification Bible, used by Sherman narcotics officers,
said amphetamine was first used in the 1930s as an aid to asthmatics
and people immediately abused it when they found it also controlled
appetites and helped fight fatigue. Military officials behind both
sides of the guns sent it to the battlefields during World War II,
helping soldiers stay awake for days. In the 1950s, doctors prescribed
amphetamines for anti-depressants and weight control. Addicts
rekindled its use in the 1960s, "the free-love generation," as
recovering user Buster called it.

But it wasn't until the 1980s when addicts began stirring the pots
with a momentum that increases to this day. "It's a national epidemic
now," said Doug, a DPS narcotics agent. A UCLA study said until the
late 1980s, illicit meth use and manufacture was endemic to
California, but then spread east to the Midwestern states.

Through the years, the federal government tightened restrictions on
the essential ingredient, ephedrine. Chemists followed along behind
with their magic to change the formula, creating pseudoephedrine, now
found in over-the-counter medications, such as nasal decongestants,
and at convenience stores and spas, where it is marketed as endurance
enhancers.

Buster, who said he began using and cooking meth in California in the
1980s, talked freely about his weekly, $1 million gross business he
ran for about 10 years. After moving it eastward, authorities caught
up with him in Springfield, Mo., in 1992. He had as many as 83 people
at any given time gathering the ingredients, three bodyguards and one
cook's helper.

"I was very thorough in my research (of methamphetamine cooking),"
Buster said. "I spent $100,000 on research and didn't teach anybody
exactly how I cooked it." He said he sometimes turned out meth that
was 95 percent pure, which is at the top level of "ice."

Buster compared his operation with those of today, which he called
"amateurs."

Doug said, when talking about the amateur operations, "Most cooks
don't know what they are doing. They are just following directions.
They don't know why you mix this with that." Although he said some are
proficient and know the chemistry involved, "most people don't and
they produce a lot of drugs."

Sam and Jackson, Sherman narcotics officer, spoke about the people and
dangers involved in cooking meth.

"You seldom see a one-man show. They (meth cooks) all smoke cigarettes
and handle these flammable chemicals at the same time. The chemicals
are toxic and different steps make them explosive." The officers also
said that meth cooks and addicts move around a lot, joining first one
meth lab team, then another. "Anywhere they can get the next fix."

"Most people don't make much money off meth," Sean said. "They may
make enough to finance the next batch. The rest is used up by the 'team.'"