STATE DRUG WARS CONTINUE TO RAGE

Due mainly to the exorbitant rise in methamphetamine use, Police Chief,
Tommy Thompson, approached Mayor Jerry Smith and members of the City
Council about hiring a canine unit to better patrol the streets of
Jacksonville. Thompson made no bones about the fact that, while a bit
pricey, having a drug sniffing dog on staff would give them a leg up in the
war on crime. On June 23, the council agreed to shell out $6,000 for a
Labrador Retriever that would be trained as a drug sniffing dog. The
training was scheduled to take place at the Canine Detection Training
Center and the dog will join the police force as partner to Cpl. Scott
Hodge. The dog, which is scheduled to arrive around Sept. 4, is the latest
maneuver by police departments throughout the South who have found
themselves in a war against an ever increasing and especially dangerous
illicit drug crime wave. The major player in this game, especially relative
to the South, is methamphetamine, known also as Meth, Crystal Meth,
Crystal, Ice, Crank, Speed, Glass and Chalk.

"Crystal meth is becoming a problem here in Jacksonville," noted Thompson,
echoing the sentiments of police chiefs throughout the area. "It does not
matter what age they are. We have seen people from their teens to their 50s
hooked on this stuff. This is a plague upon the state right now."

According to researchers, the major drug threat in Alabama is "the
widespread availability and abuse of illegal drugs arriving from outside
the state, along with its homegrown marijuana and the increasing danger of
local manufacture of methamphetamine and designer drugs."

It has been discovered that Mexican, Caribbean and regional drug
trafficking organizations "have extensive distribution networks within the
State of Alabama. Outlaw motorcycle gangs are also supplying
methamphetamine on a very limited basis through their own distribution
network within the state."

"Within the past year," explained Thompson, "we have experienced around
seven or eight meth arrests by the Jacksonville Police Department. That is
highly unusual. That is the biggest reason we have elected to purchase a
drug dog. There are so many folks using this stuff or carrying it around
with them, that it creates a dangerous situation for all of our citizens."

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect involved with methamphetamine, aside from
the usage of this deadly drug, is the fact that the ingredients for making
it are so readily available and so easily attainable that clandestine
production labs are popping up everywhere. These labs are highly volatile
and combustive and can create quite a hazard for anyone who comes in
contact with them (whether knowingly or by mistake).

"The frightening increase of clandestine methamphetamine labs in America is
putting rural areas at great risk," explained Stephen A. Hester, a hazmat
training specialist. "It doesn't matter whether the lab is a house, a
rented storage unit, a trailer, a pickup or in a car trunk, the hazardous
chemicals can be absorbed.

"When you go into a house, you want to go home from it alive. Meth labs are
highly toxic and extremely flammable. Chemicals and fumes can contaminate
you just by being exposed to them."

Hester warns that the drug can be manufactured by process or either hot
cooking or cold cooking. Both activities produce deadly results that
citizens should guard themselves against.

"Clandestine methamphetamine labs could be in your neighborhood," added
Hester. "Being a good and responsible neighbor means keeping your family
safe. Keep your eyes open and report any oddities to the authorities.
Better to be mistaken than dead."

Hester noted that users of meth are generally easy to spot. Often, they are
skinny and pock marked from digging at rashes that itch and appear nervous
or hyper. Users have trouble sleeping. Those producing meth generally have
red hands and necks. Their fingernails turn dark colored or are missing.

Since meth crimes have risen so greatly over the last few months,
increasing from six meth lab seizures statewide in 1997 to 201 last year,
Jacksonville police officers have undergone extensive specialized training
for spotting labs and clean up.

"We met with trainers of forensic sciences and they held classes on these
labs," explained Thompson. "They told us how to spot them in hotel rooms,
vans that are moving down the street, apartment buildings and other
locations. We also got a little information on how to clean them up."

Thompson noted, however, that since the cost for cleaning up a meth lab can
quickly jump into the quarter of a million dollar range, they usually turn
over the clean up of area meth labs to hazmat and the Calhoun/Cleburne
County Drug Task Force.

While no labs have yet to be discovered in Jacksonville, Thompson admits it
is only a matter of time before they uncover one. In fact, police admit
they already found the remnants of one in an abandoned trailer located in a
trailer park on the outskirts of town.

According to Thompson, however, there have been many arrests of people
attempting to load up on the ingredients for making the drug.

"All the cases you hear of people breaking into Bear Cutlery," explained
Thompson, "they are trying to get chemicals to make the drug. We also have
folks who will shoplift ephedrine, used in some sinus medications, or
attempt to purchase car loads of the stuff at one time.

"You are only allowed to buy five packs of sinus medicine, or any medicine
containing ephedrine at one time. Anyone attempting to purchase more sets
off an alarm and we are automatically alerted to this activity."

Other potential ingredients used in the production and manufacturing of
meth include: Red Devil Lye, Drano, match books (the phosphorous on the
book strikers are utilized), acetone, rubbing alcohol, ammonia and paint
thinner among others.

Even small amounts of the drug can produce serious negative effects on your
body, such as hypothermia and convulsions which sometimes result in death
to the user. Researchers have reported that as much as 50 percent of the
dopamine producing cells in the brain can be damaged after exposure to even
low levels of methamphetamine. This brain damage is like that caused by
strokes or Alzheimer's disease.

"This stuff is supposed to be as addictive as crack," concluded Thompson,
"and even more powerful. It is bad news anyway you look at it and people
need to be aware of the dangers so they will stay away from it.

"Our officers are trained and ready to keep Jacksonville's streets safe
against those making it, selling it and using it. So, the best thing to do
is to just say no."