CRANK REMAINS KING IN MONTANA

Methamphetamine -- Crank -- Still Reigns Supreme Among Montana Drug Users.

The dangerously addictive drug has held the No. 1 spot every year since
1994, the first year federal prosecutors convicted more people of meth
violations than of marijuana charges.

And it doesn't appear to be losing ground, according to Dawson County
Attorney Scott Herring. Glendive has had more than its share of drug
troubles in the last few years, including the murder of 17-year-old Steve
Berry, and the arrest of seven other teenagers allegedly connected to the
crime. Lance Deines, who received a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty
to kidnapping and murder charges, was using meth daily at the time of the
shooting, his probation officer said.

Awareness of the drug has heightened since the murder two years ago, Herring
said, but he's doesn't see that it curbed the community appetite.

"It's become apparent, once you interview and talk to kids, that once
they're on it (meth), all they care about is the next fix," Herring said.

Crank never seems to be in short supply.

"When we pull one individual off the streets, there's always someone waiting
in the wings to fill that job," he said.

Meth leaves its mark all over the West, not just Montana. But interesting
differences stand out when comparing Montana's drug problem to the rest of
the nation.

According to the Department of Justice, 53.3 percent of all drug convictions
in Montana during Fiscal 2001 were for meth. Marijuana came in a distant
second at 31.1 percent. Powder cocaine, the only other drug convictions that
were measurable in the statistical table, accounted for 14.1 percent.

Nationally, meth comprises only 14.2 percent of federal drug convictions.
Marijuana is still king in most of the country. It accounts for 32.8 percent
of all drug prosecutions. Powder cocaine contributes 22.1 percent of federal
drug convictions; crack cocaine, 20.4 percent and heroin, 7.2 percent.

Drug convictions in Montana also make a bigger part of the federal crime pie
than they do nationally. In Big Sky Country, 43.4 percent of federal
convictions are for drugs. Nationally, drugs represent only 41.1 percent of
federal convictions.

Defense attorney Penny Strong, who is unconvinced that Billings is the crank
capital of the world, said one of the reasons it's so popular is that it's
easy to make.

"It's very hazardous, but it's doable," said Strong, who is now Yellowstone
County's Chief Public Defender.

In the course of research, Strong said she has some across books with 40 to
50 different recipes that use materials that can be obtained fairly easily.
It's cheap, she said, and unlike cocaine, it doesn't have to be imported.

Frank Flemming, chief federal probation officer for Montana, said meth is
also easily available and very profitable.

That is, if the dealer is not also a user or doesn't have another equally
costly addiction.

"I'm not seeing a lot of signs of wealth," U.S. District Judge Richard
Cebull of Billings said. "Once in a while, you see one with assets. But a
huge percentage are people, as far as anybody can tell, are broke. Most have
court-appointed lawyers."

Meth quickly becomes the center of life for users, who need more and more to
feed their habit, Yellowstone County Attorney Dennis Paxinos said.

"We've had moms sell their kids into prostitution to get money for drugs,"
he said. "We have a lot of moms who say they'd rather give up their kids
than their drugs."

While some caught in the web are well educated or young people with a lot of
promise, Don Molloy, chief U.S. district judge for Montana, said the most
common factor he has seen in six years on the bench, is that most are high
school dropouts.

"I don't know if they use drugs and drop out, or they drop out and use
drugs," he said.