TULLAHOMA'S METH PROBLEM GETTING WORSE DAILY, OFFICERS TELL TASK FORCE

Just how bad Tullahoma's methamphetamine drug problem could be is not
abundantly clear to the public, but it is getting worse daily.

That was the word recently from two narcotics enforcement officers to the
Drug Free Task Force, and an assessment Alderman Troy Bisby, the
committee's chairman, conveyed to the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

"It still amazes me how that stuff is made," Bisby told the board,
referring to the chemicals used to produce the drug. "It's made from brake
cleaner, acetone and matches.

"It's very dangerous, and I ask parents to keep a look out for it."

The Task Force was briefed by Tullahoma narcotics officer Earl Morse and
Chad Partin, 14th Judicial District Task Force narcotics officer, about the
impacts of the drug and how it is made.

Morse summed up how bad methamphetamine has begun to impact Tullahoma.

"In Tullahoma we get it last, but we get it big time," he said. "This stuff
is super addictive."

Morse said the items used to make the drug can be purchased at many retail
outlets.

He said that separated as household use items, they violate no laws.
However, he added that in abundance in someone's possession, they display
intent to produce methamphetamine and can carry heavy jail sentences.

In addition to acetone, brake cleaner and matches, other items used in meth
production can be alcohol, toluene, engine starter, drain cleaner, coffee
filters, iodine, salt, batteries, propane tanks, lye and muriatic acid.

Methamphetamine is the most potent form of amphetamine readily available
with or without a prescription.

Although pharmaceutical methamphetamine once widely was available in this
country, its medical use is very restricted today.

Morse said methamphetamine does what prescription ampethamine does only
multiplied by up to 100 times, leading to a euphoric state when consumed.

"It's like the difference between a firecracker and a nuclear bomb," he said.

Partin displayed the contents used to produce the substance.

He said almost all of today's methamphetamine is homemade and resembles a
fine coarse powder, crystal or chunks.

Its color varies from off-white to yellow, and it is furnished in plastic
wrap, aluminum foil, capsules or tablets of various sizes and colors.

Partin said meth abusers often acquire favorite preferences for specific
brands of items such as brake cleaner in their meth products.

Partin said meth is taken into the body by swallowing, snorting or
injecting intravenously.

Morse said methamphetamine is called by many names, including crank,
crystal, meth, speed, go-fast, go, crystal meth, zip, chris, cristy, or ice.

Partin said meth producers throw large-scale weekend parties, and abusers
often resort to stealing and other crimes to support their habits.

He said long-term heavy use of meth may lead to malnutrition, skin
disorders, ulcers and other diseases.

Partin used an example that a human body is not meant to ingest
brake-cleaning products.

Partin and Morse said long-term effects from meth consumption may involve
hallucinations, disorganized lifestyles, violent and aggressive behavior,
permanent psychological problems, behavior resembling paranoid
schizophrenia, poor coping abilities, disturbance of personality
development, lowered resistance to illnesses and brain damage.