NO METH ARRESTS, BUT AREA MAY BE IN THE CROSSHAIRS

TORRINGTON - There is a concern that an extremely dangerous street
drug, popular in the western part of the United States, is moving
closer to the Northwest Corner.

"There is a fear that the use of methamphetamine is making its way to
this area," Torrington Police Chief Robert Milano said. "It causes
quite a bit of concern."

Methamphetamine is a very addictive stimulant drug that activates
certain areas of the brain with effects being more potent, longer
lasting and more harmful to the central nervous system. Production of
the substance is hazardous to the user and people near its creation
site, officials said.

The drug, only available legally through a prescription that cannot be
refilled, is taken orally, snorted, smoked or injected, and is known
as meth, speed, chalk, and in certain forms ice, crystal and glass,
according to the federal National Institute On Drug Abuse Web site,
www.nida.nih.gov.

There have been no methamphetamine-related arrests in the city as of
yet, but still rumors persist, said Torrington Police Sgt. Rousseau,
of the Torrington Narcotics Division.

Rousseau agreed to be interviewed only if his first name was not
published because of his undercover work for the police department.

"I can see the wave," Torrington Police Lt. Mike Emanuel said. "It
wouldn't be out of the question for Torrington."

Emanuel said law enforcement officials from the west have given the
warning that the drug and its dangers are headed to
Connecticut.

A heightened fear stems from the drug's highly addictive trait, which
is thought to be more powerful than cocaine, police said.

"It makes people go out of their minds and commit more violent
crimes," Rousseau said. "You don't want people on meth."

Police are getting information on the availability of the drug and
learning what to look for, Rousseau said.

Rousseau said he could not offer more specific information because he
did not want to reveal law enforcement prevention or termination plans
that possible users or dealers would benefit from.

State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said although he has also heard
rumors, statistics do not say the same thing.

"It's not true, factually," Vance said. "In the last two years, there
have only been three cases of methamphetamine labs in the state of
Connecticut. It's not crazy out of control."

Vance said one lab was located in the Danbury area and was considered
a "personal-use" lab.

Another was discovered in the Haddam area, Vance said, and he did not
remember where the third lab was located.

In a nationwide survey of all methamphetamine lab incidents, including
all incidents, labs, dumpsites or chemical and glassware seizures,
there were a total of 6,435 incidents from Jan. 1, 2006, to Dec. 31,
2007, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration Web
site, www.usdoj.gov/dea.

That is a decrease of the 12,484 reported incidents from Jan. 1, 2005,
to Dec. 31, 2005, according to the DEA Web site.

Vance said he did not know the sources of methamphetamine or any other
illegal drugs.

"Everything infiltrates from the west," Vance said. "I don't know
(where the drugs come from). If I knew that we could eradicate the
source."

But destroying the source of this drug is extremely treacherous and
costly, police said.

"Methamphetamine labs are a very dangerous place to break up," Milano
said. "They are hazardous from a health standpoint."

Anyone in close contact with a meth lab faces the danger of
explosions, burns and dangerous chemical inhalations, Rousseau said.
It is a hazard and expensive for towns to seize a lab, Rousseau said,
because of the many volatile chemicals involved in creating the substance.

"We need specific agencies to decontaminate and take the lab down,"
Rousseau said. "There are booby-trap labs. It's very dangerous."

Booby-trapped laboratories are labs or stations that are set up with
traps that can detonate an explosion if someone who is not the
original lab user comes near or touches the lab, Rousseau said.

Every break-up of a single lab must include HazMat - hazardous
materials - agencies and many DEA officals, Rousseau said.

"The bill goes to towns or cities and can cost between $50,000 to
hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single cleanup," Rousseau said.
"We don't want (methamphetamine) here."

Taking small amounts of methamphetamine can result in increased
physical activity, decreased appetite, increased wakefulness,
increased respiration, rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat,
increased blood pressure and hypothermia, according to the National
Institute on Drug Abuse.

Other effects of abuse include irritability, anxiety, insomnia,
confusion, tremors, convulsions, cardiovascular collapse and death,
and long-term effects like paranoia, aggressiveness, extreme anorexia,
memory loss, visual and auditory hallucinations, delusions and severe
dental problems may also occur, according to the National Institute on
Drug Abuse.

The transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C can also be consequences
of using meth, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.