DEA CHIEF SEES NEW METH PERILS, PLANS OKLAHOMA VISIT

(AP) Advances are being made in the fight against methamphetamine labs but
international developments are bringing new concerns, said the Drug
Enforcement Administration's top official.

DEA Director Asa Hutchinson made his remarks before a visit to Oklahoma
this week. Hutchinson will be in Oklahoma City on Thursday as part of his
"Not in Our Town" tour.

Hutchinson warned that foreign criminal organizations are experimenting
with a tablet form of the illegal drug. He said that could make detection
more difficult since it would look more like a legitimate medication.

Hutchinson also said large quantities of pseudoephedrine, a cold and
allergy medicine used to produce methamphetamine, are entering the United
States through Canada. He said pseudoephedrine is not strictly regulated in
that country.

Hutchinson also expressed concern over a European trend to relax some
marijuana laws and an upcoming ballot initiative in Nevada to legalize the
possession of three ounces.

He said, however, most of the news about anti-methamphetamine efforts is good.

"I believe the infrastructure for fighting methamphetamine is in place," he
said.

Hutchinson, a former Arkansas congressman, supported legislation two years
ago that gave states $20 million to clean up meth lab chemicals. He said he
thinks that's still enough.

"That system is working well," he said. "Our training of state and local
officials in meth lab cleanup is working well."

Hutchinson said education about the drug's harmful effects is also showing
benefits.

He said most of the production has shifted from small labs operated by one
or two people to what he called "super labs" that can produce more than 10
pounds of methamphetamine in 24 hours.

Hutchinson said that's created a demand for pseudoephedrine from Canada. He
said the biggest market seems to be in and near the West Coast.

In one phase of an operation called Mountain Express, Hutchinson said the
DEA seized more than 17 tons of pseudoephedrine coming across the border at
Detroit.

"That is one fourth of all the pseudoephedrine available in an entire year
in the nation of Canada," he said. "They brought in 55 tons in the year
2000, and 17 tons of it we seized."