CRYSTAL METH LEAVES TRAIL OF EXPLOSIVE ADDICTION, VIOLENCE

At first, Jes thought crystal methamphetamine would be a good way to help
her enjoy the weekends.

Today, the former user is serving time in jail and says the drug has ruined
her life. She detests it so much that she now refers to it as "the
anti-Christ."

"I was hooked on it for nine years," said the 38-year-old woman, who did not
want to be identified. "I started out using it on weekends. I thought I was
a recreational user. You can say it's for recreational use all you want, but
there's nothing recreational about it."

Drug agents statewide are hearing stories like this more frequently.

Kenny Hallmark, a narcotics officer with the Marion County Drug Task Force,
worries not only about what it does to users, but what it does to those
around them as well.

"I know you've dealt with a lot of violent people under the influence of
crack cocaine," Hallmark told police officers at a recent seminar.

"But I'm telling you, there's no violence you've ever witnessed toward the
police and public like the violence people have under (the influence of)
methamphetamine. (It) is the worst thing that has ever come along.

"It's like a weed growing out of control."

Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott said the drug, commonly known as "meth,"
initially was introduced in this area as a finished product. That is rapidly
changing.

"There is still some coming in from other areas, but we're seeing more made
locally," Plott said. "I've talked with other sheriffs throughout the state
about meth, and they all agree it's becoming a bigger problem."

Education Process

More and more, law enforcement officers are being taught the places it is
being made.

The meth seminar Hallmark conducted in Florence this summer attracted
officers from throughout northwest Alabama. He hopes officers pass that
information on to the public.

"Once you start educating people on it, the public will call and say they
know someone who uses because they've seen a lot of products with them or
can smell it," Hallmark said. "They'll recognize it because you've educated
them."

He advises officers to work with stores so businesses notify police when
they encounter someone buying unusually large amounts of an item used in
meth production, such as starter fluid.

Common traits of users include a violent nature, inability to remain still
and a chemical smell that Hallmark compares to cat urine. He said users
often sweat profusely.

They also might have open sores that produce pus. Hallmark said that's
because their organs can't dispose of the chemicals, so the chemicals get
out by eating through the skin.

Explosive Production

The drug is dangerous in another way: the chemicals used to produce it are
highly volatile and can be explosive.

Hallmark and other drug officers say meth labs are popping up throughout the
area. The labs involve chemical combinations that can and have caused
explosions. The most frustrating part for law enforcement is that the
products are purchased at regular retail stores.

That means so-called "meth cooks" are attempting to figure out the complex
chemical reaction that results in crystal meth in neighborhoods across the
area.

Statistics show that few of these kitchen chemists have even graduated from
high school.

"A 1999 study revealed that only 2 out of 10,000 people in jail nationally
for manufacturing meth had a high school education," Hallmark said. "So,
these aren't chemists out there trying to produce this complicated chemical
reaction."

Methamphetamine is a toxic and highly addictive stimulant, according to the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. It results in temporary hyperactivity and
euphoria, as well as a sense of increased energy.

But it is physically dangerous for the person who uses it. The drug
increases the heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rates. It damages the
brain, resulting in hostility, paranoia, nervousness, depression and other
problems.

All Jes knew was she felt good when she used the drug, "like I wasn't scared
to do anything.''

"It gave me a sense of control," she said. "I know it wasn't worth it."

Soon, Jes said her recreational habit became something much worse.

"Within less than two months, I was using more and more,'' she said. "I
would use meth all weekend long, and then I'd have to have some on Monday
morning to get me up.''

History of the Drug

Methamphetamine was used in World War II by Japanese and German troops.

It kept them awake and made them more violent and fearless.

It was popular in the United States during the 1960s and '70s, often hidden
in crankcases of motorcycles. Hallmark said that's why it is nicknamed
"crank." Other street names include speed, ice, chalk, fire, glass and
crystal, according to the DEA.

The drug's popularity diminished until it made a small comeback in the '80s,
Hallmark said. "Then, in the 1990s, it gained unbelievable momentum."

He said a report about two or three years ago indicated the drug's usage had
increased by 2,000 percent since 1993.

Rod Rape, duty agent with the DEA's Birmingham office, said 72 meth labs
were seized and destroyed in 2001 from Birmingham north in Alabama.

"So far this year, we've seized and destroyed 120 labs," he said. He calls
most of them "mom and pop labs" because they are run by users who sell some
portion of what they produce to cover the manufacturing costs.

"A lot of meth labs are discovered because they explode," he added.

Generally, labs are in rural areas because their smell is so potent, cookers
know they would be caught in heavily populated areas, Rape said. Meth
started as a West Coast drug but moved to the Midwest and East, and now the
South.

Ups and Downs

Jes said she eventually lost her job because of her habit.

"That was four years ago,'' she said. "I got depressed, and that only made
me want more. I started using meth every day. And to be honest, I didn't
care what happened to me.

"I spent several days a week chasing the drug, trying to find someone to
sell to me, and the other days I was using it.

"When I first started, I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Boy, was I
wrong. It gave me so much energy, but I got to where I was just spinning my
wheels, doing nothing but smoking meth. I lost focus of everything. I'd
spend 20 hours a day smoking meth with buddies, talking about everything we
were going to do. But we did nothing.''

She would suffer headaches, body cramps, temporary memory loss and blurred
vision when she came down from a high.

Jes said she used the drug daily during the past four years of her habit.
She used 3.5 grams, referred to as an "8-ball," a day.

An 8-ball costs between $225 and $350, Hallmark said.

Along with her job, Jes lost everything.

"My family split up. I lost my kids and my home. I have nothing because of
meth,'' she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Everything I worked so
hard to get in my life, meth took away.

"It had a hold on me. I gave up everything for meth. There is no such thing
as you controlling it; it controls you.

"I've been arrested five times since I got hooked. I had never even had a
speeding ticket before I got to using meth.''

New Laws

Alabama has stepped up laws against methamphetamine in response to the
drug's rapidly increasing use and production.

Hallmark said authorities now are allowed to charge someone with the felony
offense of manufacturing a controlled substance just for helping produce a
meth lab. That includes buying or selling a product used in the lab, even if
you just gave someone money and that person bought the product. It also
includes providing land, a house or transportation.

Franklin County District Attorney John Pilati said the law allows
authorities to arrest someone because they have ingredients involved in
meth's manufacture.

Hallmark said that also helps in getting search warrants. Before the law,
officers had problems getting warrants for residences that have common
household items used to produce meth.

For example, lithium batteries, pool test strips and coffee filters are used
in the drug's production, Hallmark said. They are normal items in a home,
but it doesn't make sense for someone to have dozens of the batteries and
test strips and hundreds of filters unless they are manufacturing the drug.

"Before the law was established, officers would know what the individuals
were doing, but they couldn't do anything about someone having one of the
precursors," he said. "One of the best ways to make headway in the drug war
is to cut off the suppliers.

"Homemade labs are making it, but this new law will help cut off those
supplies and, hopefully, get it off our streets."

The laws also apply to "rolling labs," which involve lab materials found in
cars. The car is driven to an isolated spot, where the lab is set up. They
add an additional danger: the potential for an explosion if a car rear-ends
the rolling lab.

Recovering From Fall

Jes was arrested in December for possession of meth. On Jan. 27, while
sitting in a jail cell, Jes decided she had had enough.

"I thought I was dying. I said, 'No more.' I prayed for God to help me,''
she said.

Jes said she lay in her cell and cried with body cramps and headaches for
two months after she stopped using. She eventually had to be hospitalized
because her kidneys stopped functioning and her liver enlarged.

"Now, I have high blood pressure and high sugar that I can attribute to
using so much meth,'' she said.

Still, Jes said she is determined to get her life back in order.

"I wake up every morning realizing I've screwed up my life thanks to meth,''
she said. "I've tried to talk with people I know who are using meth and let
them know it's a dead-end street. All the pleasure they're feeling right now
isn't worth it.

"Also, I talk with other girls who are brought into jail who are using meth.
I want them to understand what I went through so they may not have to go
through the same thing.''

Jes nicknamed methamphetamine the "anti-Christ'' because she found there
were 666 ways to make it when she looked it up on the Internet.

"It's bad, and it's scary. It's the most terrible thing, and it can destroy
your life," she said.

"I know; it did mine."

Sidebar:

WHAT'S IN IT?

Many common products are used in the manufacturing of methamphetamines.
Kenny Hallmark of the Marion County Drug Task Force said suspicion could be
raised if someone has an unusual amount of some of these products:

* anhydrous ammonia;

* Sudafed pills;

* Coleman fuel;

* matches containing red phosphorus;

* HEET;

* lithium batteries;

* acetone;

* denatured alcohol;

* coffee filters;

* rock salt;

* liquid fire (a cleaner containing sulfuric acid);

* crystal iodine;

* starter fluid (ether);

* paint thinner;

* aluminum foil;

* hydrogen peroxide;

* nasal decongestants;

* pH testers for pools.