METH CASES SOAR

Town Meeting Highlights Dangers Of Using, Making Drug

BILOXI - Methamphetamine production statewide has increased so dramatically
since January that 18 children have been removed from meth-lab homes for
their safety, a narcotics official said Thursday.

More than 500 meth cases statewide this year, compared to only two in 1997,
is evidence that greater supplies are feeding growing demand, said Dennis
Wood, assistant director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

The problem is becoming a health hazard for children in particular, Wood
told about 50 people who gathered for a town hall meeting at the Biloxi
Community Center.

Users run the risk of serious health problems and death, he said. But
children who are living around the drug and its toxic, flammable chemicals
also face serious health and safety issues, Wood said.

"It causes respiratory problems and explosions. It causes child neglect and
child abuse, because the parents that are addicted to it care more about
getting more of the drug than making sure their kids have food to eat," he
said.

Unlike cocaine, which is smuggled into the United States, methamphetamine
can be made anywhere with common household products, anhydrous ammonia and
ether.

"The ingredients the guy driving next to you and your family has hidden in
his trunk is putting you in danger," Wood said. "In certain circumstances,
the explosion could level this building."

Wood showed a series of pictures of meth users who, in less than two years,
no longer resembled themselves from previous pictures.

Youths in the audience groaned at the difference.

"Don't be afraid to be afraid of the drug," Wood told them.

The waste left behind from making the drug is so toxic that it requires a
hazardous-materials team to clean it. The state paid more than $1.2 million
to clean up meth labs last year.

Law enforcement officers also are at risk because the drug causes paranoia
and violence, Wood said.

Two narcotics officers were injured in Biloxi earlier this year when a
booby trap went off while they were trying to arrest a man charged with
making meth.

The Sun Herald and the bureau co-sponsored Thursday's town hall meeting.