METH CALLED NO 1 'DRAGON'

The Tri-State's methamphetamine epidemic never has been worse, law
enforcement officials and others agree.

Increased media attention and collaborative efforts by police and retail
stores are helping authorities snuff out record numbers of clandestine meth
labs.

However, the widespread manufacture, trade and use of meth continues.

In Evansville, the week just completed was fairly typical.

On Thursday, Evansville police seized an alleged meth lab from a pickup
truck pulled over at Jefferson Avenue and South Governor Street. The driver
and passenger had outstanding arrest warrants and now face six new
preliminary felony charges.

On Friday, a man asleep in a parked car on Second Avenue was arrested for
allegedly possessing meth and marijuana.

And there's no end in sight.

"It gets bigger all the time," Vanderburgh County deputy prosecutor Kevin
Stalker said. "It gets a little more underground. People branch out or get
a little smarter about where they're cooking."

Meth "is our No. 1 dragon right now - bigger than marijuana," said Sgt.
Mike Lauderdale, an Evansville Police Department drug investigator.

But those two drugs often go hand-in-hand. Meth addicts often have
graduated from marijuana use. "They're going to keep finding that high
that's right for them," said Linda Schindler, executive director of the
Substance Abuse Council of Vanderburgh County.

The escalating numbers of labs seized by authorities tell at least part of
the local meth story.

Evansville police in 2002 discovered 91 labs, a record by far. Roughly half
of those labs were actively producing meth when found.

There were 36 seizures in 2001, and 30 in 2000.

Lauderdale cited several reasons for the rising total.

"More people know how to cook (meth). Second, the regular patrol officer on
the street who's normally going to come across (labs) first knows how to
recognize them. There's more awareness."

And last, Lauderdale said, retail store employees are giving police leads
on alleged meth-makers.

Most meth ingredients can be bought legally at stores, and when customers
buy those items in bulk, store employees have been asked to contact
authorities. Lauderdale described the relationship with retailers as
"excellent."

Vanderburgh County sheriff's deputies seized 40 labs during 2002, also a
record.

The Evansville police and Vanderburgh County sheriff's departments have
teams that dismantle meth labs. In other Southwestern Indiana counties,
Indiana State Police officers dismantle labs.

Indiana State Police dismantled 732 labs last year, a 34 percent increase.

In Gibson County, the state police took apart 41 labs in 2002, up from 15
in 2001.

State police dismantled 12 labs last year in Spencer County, up from five;
six in Perry County, up from five; and eight in Warrick County, up from
four. Other area counties saw declines or identical totals.

Observers note that the numerous meth lab seizures, while good news, do not
cure addictions.

Methamphetamine, a stimulant, can be sniffed, smoked or injected.

Not all meth users are addicts, Schindler said. But those who do get hooked
go to almost any length to get high.

"They're real paranoid," said Schindler. "They've been (awake) for days.
Sometimes they've been up for a week on end with no sleep. And a lot of the
crimes being committed are committed because they're high and need more.

"A lot of people, they're peeking out windows and they're scared to death
that they'll get caught, they think people are after them who aren't - they
see things, they hallucinate."

The drug is such a stimulant that "you couldn't sleep if you wanted to,"
said Schindler, and users will often take other drugs to "come down."

Many meth users mix the drug's highs with pornographic material.

"It's rare when we do take (a lab) down and don't find porn," Lauderdale said.

Lauderdale remembered finding one large-scale meth lab in Evansville. It
was accompanied by "the most unbelievable library of porn. And it was all
homemade porn."

Today's meth users often form their own small communities, according to
Stalker.

He said such a community is like "a little coven of witches."

"They learn their trade from a main cook," Stalker said. "When that person
goes down, (gets arrested) somebody else picks up. It gets in ever larger
circles."

Members of those circles will be assigned specific tasks, said Stalker. One
must obtain psuedoephedrine tablets. Another, starting fluid. Another,
anhydrous ammonia.

A cook will then whip up a batch of meth and share it with the people who
got the ingredients.

Stalker said the arrangement is not unlike "a potluck dinner."

Because meth labs are explosive, safety is also a major concern,
authorities said.

Lauderdale said there were four meth lab explosions last year in
Evansville. They occurred in a vehicle, a motel, a house being remodeled
and in an outdoor space.

There were a few minor burns related to meth labs.

HHH

The criminal justice system is loaded with drug cases, and in Vanderburgh
County about half of the more than 1,000 felony drug cases filed in 2002
were meth-related.

Jail time "is not the answer for everybody. Drug Court is an excellent
program. It's what a lot of people need - that structure, sending them
through treatment, getting them started in meetings, getting their life
back in order," Schindler said.

But others "probably need the prison time," she added.

Stalker said Vanderburgh County's Drug Court can be an effective course of
action for some addicts.

But the program doesn't admit people charged with dealing or manufacturing
meth.

"The only way you can stop them from cooking is to put them in jail, but
due to overcrowding it's hard to keep them there or get a high bond,"
Stalker said. "Most are nonviolent offenders, and if it comes down to a
murderer or a meth cook and you need the space in jailOe"

People addicted to meth can be helped, Schindler said.

But as with any addiction, Schindler said, the addict must want the help.

"Once the seed's been planted that they don't have to live like that, even
if they relapse, they'll be back (to treatment). They just have to be willing."