METHAMPHETAMINE'S POPULARITY RISES

Methamphetamine traffic in North Carolina has grown, and narcotics agents
fear it will continue to spread.

Four years ago, the State Bureau of Investigation seized six meth labs.
Last year, 98 clandestine drug labs, mostly meth, were seized in North
Carolina. So far this year, agents have discovered more than 20 meth labs.

Lawmen are trying to stop the trend before the drug becomes as predominant
as it has in other states. Vincent Morgano, assistant special agent in
charge of Drug Enforcement Administration operations in Tennessee, said
meth is spreading from the west to North Carolina.

In the last three years, the number of meth labs seized in Tennessee has
more than tripled, Morgano said. He estimates that Tennessee lawmen seize
at least one lab a day.

"We didn't have a meth problem here prior to 1996," he said. "Last year, we
seized 470 labs in Tennessee. In 1996, we seized only two. It's only a
matter of time before North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia become
the front line."

Previously, meth was mostly smuggled into the South from Arizona and
California, lawmen said. The drug is mostly manufactured in the Midwest.
But production has been slowly moving east.

"This is not a problem that North Carolina went looking for," said Attorney
General Roy Cooper. "This a problem that came looking for us."

Meth is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system and causes
increased activity and decreased appetite. The drug increases the heart
rate and blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. One dose
can keep a user awake for three days, sometimes leading to paranoia or
violence.

Use Spreading

Called "crank" or "ice," meth gives the user a sense of euphoria similar to
the effects of crack cocaine. The drug was popular among college students,
truck drivers and athletes in the 1950s and is gaining popularity nationwide.

"It's very addictive, but it is also one of the easier drugs to get off,"
said Cindi Brooks, a clinical addiction specialist at Behavioral Health
Care of the Cape Fear Valley Health System. "A part of addiction is denial.
Crank is a 24-hour high, and there are few people who find that attractive
very often. You can't eat. You can't sleep. It gets to where you are tired
of that. There is no kidding yourself with crank."

Brooks said she has not detected an increase in the number of people
seeking help for meth addiction.

Greg Pitts, who is 44, used crystal meth in his late 20s. Pitts said he
experimented with the drug while also using other illegal substances. Back
then, he said, he could take $20 worth of "brown crank" and stay high for
12 hours. The drug can be snorted, smoked or injected. Pitts snorted it.

"It had a real pungent odor, and it stung the back of your nasal cavity,"
he said. "It had a real acrid taste, and when it drained, it gets in the
membranes. That's called a drip."

Today Pitts works with Cumberland County Mental Health helping drug users.
He has been clean for years and sometimes shares his story with clients.

He said the drug is still popular among truck drivers. His agency has not
noticed an increase in the number of clients seeking help for meth
addiction, he said.

"A lot of times people who use a lot of cocaine will use meth," he said.
"It gives you a false sense of enthusiasm. A lot of people use alcohol with
it to offset the effect and to come down a little bit. It can turn into a
real vicious cycle."

Labs Found

In the Cape Fear region, more methamphetamine has been found in Harnett and
Sampson than in other counties. Harnett lawmen have uncovered at least four
labs during three years. Last month, four people were charged with selling
and trafficking in the drug.

Last year, Sampson lawmen found three labs. On Feb. 2, deputies arrested
two Dunn men on charges of possession of supplies for producing
methamphetamine.

In January, investigators in Bladen County raided a mobile home in Dublin
and found 10 doses of meth and meth-producing chemicals. Bladen lawmen said
it was the first discovery of a meth lab in the county. Other counties in
the region have reported increases in the number of meth dealers and users.

Part of meth's appeal is its accessibility, authorities say. Dealers do not
have to be connected to a trafficker. They can download instructions for
making the drug from the Internet.

"The drug kingpins are no longer outside of the country," said Cooper, the
attorney general. "They are right in our back yard. These secret drug labs
are being set up in people's apartments and homes."

Local, state and federal agencies say they come together to fight the
trend. Officers in local departments and at the N.C. Justice Academy in
Salemburg are being trained to recognize the signs of a lab.

Chief Deputy John Conerly of the Sampson County Sheriff's Office said rural
departments such as his depend on federal and state agencies to help
uncover the labs. Finding meth labs often takes manpower and resources
rural departments do not have, he said.

He worked as a narcotics agent for about 20 years and saw the emergence of
crack cocaine in Sampson County during the 1980s. He remembers when cocaine
became a drug of choice among users. Now he's seeing methamphetamine creep
into the county's rural communities.

"I have a theory," he said. "Drugs are fads. First it was powdered cocaine,
then crack and now meth."

The emergence of meth labs in the state has been sporadic, said Dave
Gaddis, special agent in charge of Drug Enforcement Administration
operations in the state. Some lawmen say they are beginning to notice a
concentration of meth labs in rural areas.

Last year, SBI agents seized 15 labs in Rutherford County in the western
part of the state. Rutherford has 63,332 people, according to the 2001
census, and few cities. Nine labs were uncovered in Johnston County, which
borders Harnett and Sampson.

Dangerous Chemicals

Methamphetamine can be risky not only for users but for those who handle
the explosive chemicals used in making it. Chemicals from meth labs can
lead to illnesses in those who "cook" the drug or people living and working
nearby.

Methamphetamine was developed in 1919 in Japan. The drug is a more potent
form of amphetamine, which was created in Germany 32 years earlier.
Amphetamines, often found in over-the-counter cold medicines, are now used
to illegally produce meth.

Today large-scale meth labs are centered in the western United States.
Outlaw biker gangs were once the primary traffickers of the drug. The
larger suppliers are now organized-crime groups operating from Mexico,
authorities say.

Gaddis said authorities have not found "super labs."

"These labs have the ability to produce multiple pounds of the drug in a
single cooking cycle, which is an alarming rate. We haven't seen it here,
and we hope not to," he said.

Cooks can set up labs for a few hundred dollars and turn a quick profit.
The drug can cost about $100 an ounce to make and can be sold for $800 an
ounce. It can be made using common household products such as paint
thinner, allergy medicine and lye.

"You don't have to be a chemist with a degree to make it," said Harnett
County Sheriff Larry Rollins. "It's what I like to call a kitchen-soup
recipe. It doesn't take a lot of knowledge. And it's like any other
business where there's a demand - there's a supply."

Many users are women who take the drug for weight loss. Authorities say
users often become lab operators to support their habits. Cookers tend to
be white people in rural areas, authorities said.

Meth production has a strong ammonia odor, which can go undetected longer
in the country. But the smell does not stop cookers from setting up labs
just about anywhere, authorities said. Lawmen have found meth labs in hotel
rooms, apartments and cars.

"It is very costly to clean up an area that has been exposed to these
chemicals," Gaddis said. "Manufacturing one pound of meth yields five
pounds of hazardous waste."

Local agencies call the SBI and DEA to clear the labs. Agents must be
certified, and dismantling a lab can take more than 32 hours. On average,
the DEA spends $10,000 to $12,000 to clean up a lab, according to the SBI.

In April 2002, two Erwin police officers were hospitalized after being
overcome by ammonia fumes during a raid on a meth lab. Residents within a
three-block radius were evacuated from their homes.

Anhydrous ammonia, a common farm chemical, is a main ingredient in making
meth. Exposure to it can cause blindness, lung damage or death, according
to the National Agricultural Safety Database.

Law enforcement agencies want to get cooperation from businesses and
companies that sell products used in making methamphetamine, Cooper said.
Authorities have asked business owners to be leery of customers who buy
certain chemicals and products in bulk, he said.

In Washington state, legislators have limited the number of
allergy-medicine packets a customer can buy. Medicines containing ephedrine
or amphetamine are kept behind glass cases, Cooper said.

"I think we have to have a concerted effort," he said. "Education is
important. A lot of people don't know about these synthetic drugs."