THE NEW PROBLEM DRUGS: METH

Juneau Police Say This Cousin to Amphetamines Is Gaining Popularity Most
Quickly

Methamphetamine, known as crystal, meth or crank, is the fastest
growing drug problem in Juneau. "We're seeing a drastic increase in
methamphetamine, in Southeast and Juneau," said Steve Hernandez, who
heads up the drug unit for the Juneau Police Department. Based on
seizures and police contacts with users, meth is becoming a primary
drug of choice.

Meth is a powerful stimulant, a white powder that usually is snorted -
inhaled - and occasionally injected. A cousin to prescription
amphetamines, meth can be made in basic home labs using ingredients
from hardware stores and pharmacies.

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Hernandez said the cost of meth in Juneau is comparable to cocaine,
$100 to $150 a gram. The price depends on quality, which ranges from
poorly made, brownish "peanut butter" meth to high-grade, white
crystalline powder.

Editor's note: This is the first in a three-day series that looks at drug
trends in the capital city.
Today: The new problem drugs: Meth and OxyContin
Tuesday: Kids and drugs

A gram could provide three to five lines for a user, each providing an
eight-to 12-hour high. Hard core users, called tweakers, can stay up
for days doing meth. Like most forms of speed, meth makes users alert
and agitated, and long-term meth users lose weight and become
suspicious and paranoid, even suicidal, said Matt Felix, director of
the Juneau chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

The drug, which is physically addictive, damages the central nervous
system and the teeth, and tweakers tend to scratch because the drug
causes dry, itchy skin.

People working in social services with drug users are seeing the
increase as well.

Meth bust: Lester Hunt Jr. throws contaminated items from an apartment
used as a methamphetamine lab on Back Loop Road into a fire in
December 2000. Hunt was a friend of the apartment owner, whose tenants
were charged with running a meth lab. BRIAN WALLACE/ THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

"In our programs, 15 to 20 percent are (in for treatment of) meth.
Meth is what's happening," said Greg Pease, who oversees behavioral
treatment, outpatient and halfway house programs for Gastineau Human
Services in Juneau.

"Meth used to be called 'poor man's coke' but then it just took off.
In the last four years meth consumption and manufacture has gone
through the roof," said Zoran Yankovich, who heads up the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration in Alaska. Formerly a police chief in
Haines, Yankovich now is based in Anchorage.

He said meth is rampant in the Midwest and on the West Coast. While
Alaska doesn't have the scale of problems that Oregon and Washington
are seeing, police say it's clear that use of the drug is growing in
Alaska.

The Juneau district attorney's office also is seeing an increase in
meth cases.

"I think meth cases are the biggest change we've seen in the past few
years," said Dean Guaneli, chief assistant attorney general for the
state. "Alaska lagged behind the rest of country, particularly the
West Coast, on meth labs. But they've moved up the West Coast and
started showing up, first in Anchorage, and we've seen a little bit in
Juneau."

According to the DEA, 60 percent of the meth in the United States is
made in Central California. But hundreds of meth labs have sprouted
up. In Alaska, the DEA found 50 meth labs in 2000, and 21 in 2001.

The manufacture of meth is as much a concern to police as its growing
use. The process creates stinking gases and toxic waste and is a fire
hazard and potentially explosive.

Meth labs were discovered in Juneau in December 2000 in a Mendenhall
Valley motel and in a home on Back Loop Road. In the latter case, the
smell of the operation alerted the neighbors. There hasn't been a meth
lab busted in Juneau since.

Sitka police found two meth labs this year, one aboard a boat and
another in a home. Police said they were part of the same operation.

"They were stealing anhydrous ammonia from fish (processing) plants,
leaking it out of tanks, which could have been a huge problem if
they'd left a valve open," said Detective Ginny Moring of the Sitka
police.

Moring said five dump sites for the chemical waste created in the
manufacture of meth also were found in the area. Meth production
creates six times its weight in waste.

"The dump sites are horrible," said Hernandez of the Juneau police.
"There's some real caustic stuff there."

Worth $100 to $150: One gram of methamphetamine or cocaine looks like
the contents of one packet of artificial sweetener. Photo Illustration
by: Brian Wallace

In some cases, small meth labs simply supply the users. A group of
users will fan out to collect the ingredients for the cook. The group
then splits up the product, a one-or two-ounce batch, for personal
use.

Meth can be lucrative for the cook-it-yourself dealer, said Hernandez.
According to the DEA, $100 in supplies can net $2,000 in meth.

"There's no growing the coke leaf, just the lab work," Hernandez said.
"You're getting rid of a whole level and that means more profit. As a
business person, that's the way to go."

Meth has such a lucrative mark-up in Juneau that Hernandez said
dealers have told him they don't need the hassle of running a lab.
Juneau prices have been around $100 a gram recently, low for Juneau
but three or four times what users pay down south.

Hernandez said community involvement is a key factor in keeping meth
usage down in Juneau. Police vigilance is greatly enhanced when
neighbors and concerned citizens share information.

"Maybe someone in a neighborhood sees a house frequented by foot and
vehicle traffic at all hours of the day and night for very short
periods of time," Hernandez said. "What does that tell you? Maybe
you've got a drug dealing situation there. If there's particular
chemical odor coming from a closed location, a shed, house, or hotel
room, we want to hear about that. It might be a piece of the puzzle
we're looking for."