METHAMPHETAMINE: THE DRUG THAT EATS YOU ALIVE

HOUSTON - Considered to be one of the drugs of choice in the 1980s,
methamphetamine is enjoying a renewed popularity in the new century.

Its popularity is enough that it has once again regained the close attention
of law enforcement officials in Texas and across the United States. Thus, a
new program designed to combat an old problem was given to law enforcement
agencies at the start of this year.

The Methamphetamine Initiative Group, referred to as "Mig," was started in
January. The original commander of the Mig was Department of Public Safety
Narcotics Lt. Joseph Longway. He set the goal for the first year of
operation at taking down 50 clandestine (clan) labs. Many experts thought
Longway's goal was overly ambitious.

But, "We're right on that number or better," DPS Lt. Lee Ann Groves said
recently. "We're averaging around one to two labs per week. At the start, 50
did sound ambitious. Now it looks like that is going to be the low end."

If that number sounds high, it is for a first-year task force, but nothing
like the numbers that might be seen in just a year or two.

"Several Migs were set up in California in recent years," Longwell said.
"And they're now taking down 200 or more in a single year. This is a growing
problem. We're lucky in Texas to have a Mig so early." Groves has been with
the Mig since its inception and recently took over for Longway when he was
reassigned to the High Plains area of Texas. As the program's commander,
Groves coordinates personnel from the DPS, Harris County Sheriff's Office,
Houston Police Department, federal Drug Enforcement Administration,
Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Montgomery County Sheriff's
Office.

The Mig was formed as a federally funded, high-intensity drug trafficking
area task force. While it is based in a 14-county area surrounding the city
of Houston, Longway and Groves have extended the Mig's reach well beyond
that. They have worked with police, sheriff's departments and the Texas
Department of Public Safety over a large area, including Wharton, Matagorda,
Colorado, Jackson, Calhoun and Victoria counties, along with such cities as
Victoria, Corpus Christi and El Campo.

"We're committed to serving our designated area," Groves said. "But we're
also a resource for these other departments to tap into for help. When they
call, we're ready to lend our help to take down these labs because they are
so dangerous."

The main danger in taking down the labs is the kinds of chemicals used in
the process of making the drug. Charcoal lighter, acetone, battery acid and
gasoline are just a few of the different products that can go into the mix.

"There is absolutely nothing of natural origin about these drugs," Groves
said. "When you look at the list of things that go into them, there is
nothing there that I would want going into my body." As a result, when
officers take down a lab, they have to work in protective clothing and wear
breathing equipment to protect themselves. In the right environment, even
the spark from turning on a flashlight can be enough to turn a lab into a
roaring inferno. And without the breathing equipment, there is no telling
what fumes a person exposed to a lab will be breathing, or what kind of
damage they will be doing to their body.

Compounding the danger are the types of locations where agents are finding
the labs. When the drug first became popular, "clan" labs were usually found
in rural areas where the smells they generated would not be discovered by
neighbors or law enforcement. The various manufacturing processes have since
become so sophisticated that a lab was recently discovered in the back of a
loaded semi trailer. And labs are being regularly taken down in apartment
complexes and storage units.

"The people cooking up the drug show a real disdain for other people,"
Groves said. "They don't care about the potential danger to other people.
The only concern they have is to manufacture more of the drug for
themselves."

Longway added, "And if they do accidentally set fire to an apartment, do you
really think they are going to take the time to tell their neighbors to get
out or call the fire department? They're doing something illegal. They are
going to leave and not care about anyone else."

Their lack of respect extends to their own families, and even children.
Groves said that one of the dangers in making a raid on a lab is that they
frequently will come across small children.

"It's very difficult to document what harm is done to those children," she
said. "All we know is that if we do find children, we immediately call Child
Protective Services. There have to be adverse effects. In addition, most of
them are small children, and the fumes from the process are heavier than air
so they get right into the area the children are breathing. Outlets in
garages are generally set chest high because you might have a natural gas
water heater or store gasoline for a lawnmower in them. That's because those
fumes stay low and you can avoid an accidental spark. And that is about the
same height as where a young child might be breathing."

There are several different methods by which the drug can be manufactured.
And new ways are being found all the time.

"We're always getting e-mails and teletypes from different agencies telling
us to look for new things," Groves said. "It seems like the process
undergoes changes on an almost weekly basis."

Some of those innovations are the result of new "cookers" getting into the
business, usually to feed their own habits.

"About half of the new cookers will be people who find someone with a recipe
and ask them to 'teach me to cook,'" Longway said. "But the other, larger
percentage, especially among the younger users, is to develop their own
process. They grab chemistry books and other resources and figure out a
method. And they may make several mistakes. I can't tell you the number of
people who have told me 'I never could get it right.' And we look over their
notes and see they had only one step wrong, not that we would tell them that
or what the step is. But the danger of those methods is that when they get
that one step wrong, what they might produce will be a deadly poison. We
haven't seen it happen yet, but it is only a matter of time."

Based on conversations with users and cookers, Longway and Groves both said
they've heard all kinds of reasons for people starting to use the drug. But
there is only one reason they keep using.

"I've had housewives tell me they started to try and lose weight," Longway
said. "I've had college students tell me they needed it to stay awake to get
everything done between jobs and classes. For the younger people, they tell
me they like to use it before a party so they can stay up longer. The one
thing they don't realize when they start is just how addictive a drug it
really is. I wouldn't put it in a class with heroin, but it's just one step
below. Basically, if you use it once, you're addicted."

The low cost can add to the drug's appeal. Groves explained that since the
drug can be made from various common household materials, it can be a
relatively low-cost high if one is willing to risk the dangers of cooking
it.

Clan labs are only half the problem for the Mig, which also has to address
the problem of "Mexican Meth." Generally coming out of Mexico or California,
it is cooked up in larger batches and packaged for distribution mainly in
bigger cities. And distribution usually falls into the hands of organized
and violent groups, including a number of outlaw motorcycle clubs.

"With a clan lab, one person is usually going to cook enough for themselves
and enough to sell to friends to pay for the next batch," Groves said.
"Those dealing with 'Mexican Meth' are going to be more organized and
selling to a greater extent. They run more of a traditional narcotics
operation."

Regardless of the source, the impact on the health and well being of those
using and cooking the drugs is devastating, although the exact problems they
cause are still being investigated.

"No one has done a long-term study of the effects because we've never found
a long-term user to study," Groves said. "A person using the drug might be
40, but they are going to look 80. The drug simply just eats you alive."