DEA RELEASES METH STATISTICS

Missouri On Top In Numbers Reported

While reports are still trickling in to federal authorities and a lack of
uniformity makes them questionable, statistics suggest that Missouri leads
the nation in an unenviable category - the number of methamphetamine labs
reported by law enforcement officers.

The latest numbers provided by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration
show that Missouri recorded 2,137 seizures of methamphetamine "labs,"
dumpsites and locations of inactive labs in 2001. Police use the term "lab"
to describe the places where manufacturers produce methamphetamine, and
could describe a home, car or other location.

But, federal authorities concede, a lack of uniform reporting standards for
the statistics nationwide make the accuracy of the rankings questionable.

Nevertheless, the DEA reports show California second with 1,848 seizures,
Washington state third with 1,477 seizures, and Kansas fourth with 847.

Joe Long, spokesman for the El Paso Intelligence Center, or EPIC, the DEA's
clearinghouse for drug information, said reports for 2001 are still
trickling in.

"The numbers, even for last year's are always changing," Long said.
"Reporting to us is not mandatory - it's a strictly voluntary process. Most
states do not require law enforcement agencies to file the EPIC forms and
report to us."

The numbers for Missouri suggest of the 2,137 seizures last year, 824 were
"active labs," 719 were "inactive labs" where glassware and chemicals were
found, and 594 were "dumpsites" where the remains of labs were found.

Among the counties in Missouri, Jasper County was tops for lab seizures
with 148 in 2001. Jackson County was second with 107 seizures, Greene
County was third with 94 and St. Louis County was fourth with 89.

Among the other counties in Southwest Missouri, McDonald County reported 27
seizures; Newton County reported 25 seizures; Barry County, 21; Lawrence
County, seven; and Barton County, one.

In Southeast Kansas, Cherokee County reported 33 seizures in 2001; Crawford
County reported 29; Labette County, 26; Montgomery County, 42; and Neosho
County, nine.

Capt. Ron Replogle, head of the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Crime
Division, said the jump in meth lab discoveries from about 900 in 2000 to
more than 2,100 in 2001 raised some eyebrows across the state, but a new
state law may provide a reason for the jump.

"On Jan. 1, 2001, a new law went into effect requiring that all departments
file the federal EPIC forms when they find a meth lab," Replogle said. "In
previous years, we've had trouble getting accurate numbers on how many labs
were found in Missouri, and now we're getting everyone to work together,
and we're finally getting accurate numbers."

Under the new reporting law, law enforcement agencies across the state are
required to file their meth-lab numbers with the Highway Patrol.

Newton County sheriff's Capt. Chris Jennings said agencies in Newton County
are working harder to make sure they report the methamphetamine labs found
there.

"In the past, we've gotten way behind on the reports," Jennings said. "Now
we've got people who monitor the reporting more closely."

In a telephone interview from Washington, D.C., DEA Administrator Asa
Hutchinson said the numbers show methamphetamine production is "proceeding
like wildfire across the United States going west to east."

"This obviously reflects a very substantial and serious problem with
methamphetamine in Missouri," said Hutchinson, a former congressman from
Northwest Arkansas before President George W. Bush appointed him to his
current post.

"But, it also reflects a strong commitment by law enforcement and some
outstanding law enforcement work," he said.

Hutchinson said the DEA has standards to differentiate what is a
methamphetamine lab dumpsite, and what is a place where some empty
containers of camping fuel or lye were dumped.

"We look for glassware and the precursors for meth, but we also look for
meth residue," Hutchinson said. "If there was nothing criminal going on, we
won't find the evidence of methamphetamine on the containers.

"We also only pay the costs of cleaning up the labs or dumpsites, and there
is a finite amount of money available so there is no incentive to inflate
the numbers."

Hutchinson said he's touring the country bringing attention to the
methamphetamine problem. He was in Cape Girardeau last week, and on May 30,
will be in Kansas City.

"In the city, crack cocaine is still the major drug problem," Hutchinson
said. "When I say the city, I'm speaking of St. Louis, Chicago, those
areas, and cocaine is the drug of choice there. In the rural areas, the
meth has moved in and is the drug of choice there."

Hutchinson said there are several reasons the drug has taken root in rural
areas.

"Certainly the fact that it is easy to produce, the chemicals are readily
available, and it is so highly stimulative, they all play a role in the
drug's popularity," Hutchinson said. "People forget that 75 percent of drug
users have a full-or part-time job, so methamphetamine users sometimes get
on the drug because they want to work two jobs and they need more energy,
then they develop an addiction problem.

"There are just a whole host of reasons why people try methamphetamine."
Detective Jason Mickey of the Cherokee County (Kan.) Sheriff's Department
said his department is working to prevent the theft of the ingredients used
to produce methamphetamine.

Anhydrous ammonia is one ingredient used to make the drug. It's also
commonly found at farms and farm supply stores as a fertilizer.

"It's a major problem, especially in Weir where we have a large
manufacturer of anhydrous ammonia," Mickey said. "We monitor the plant
closely, and we'll watch the tanks at farms as well. Sometimes we'll put
out fake tanks and monitor them to try to catch the people doing this."

Despite the fact that more labs have been found in Missouri, California
still produces more methamphetamine than any other state in the country.
Hutchinson said about 3 percent of all labs found in the country are
"superlabs" capable of producing 10 or 15 pounds of the drug at a time.

Most of the superlabs are found in California, while most of the labs in
Missouri are smaller "shoebox" operations producing meth by the ounce.