DEA HEAD LAUNCHES METH TOUR IN INDY

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
began a cross-country tour focusing on methamphetamine abuse Thursday in
Indianapolis, which authorities say is a hub for transporting the illegal
drug across the nation.

While meth making is a booming cottage industry -- Indiana State Police
reported dismantling 681 meth labs last year -- as much as 70 percent of
the drug sold in the state is cooked in "super labs," mostly in California,
DEA Director Asa Hutchinson said at a statewide meth summit.

Whether made on the West Coast from ingredients imported from Canada and
Mexico, or cooked in someone's garage from cold pills and batteries bought
at the local drugstore, "I believe in rural America, it is the number-one
drug problem," Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson spoke to about 500 police officers, prosecutors, school and
health officials from around Indiana. He was beginning a 32-state,
three-month tour focusing on the meth problem.

Methamphetamine -- dubbed "speed," "crank," "crystal meth" and "glass" on
the streets -- has surpassed cocaine in popularity in rural areas and is
gaining use in cities, experts say. The stimulant produces a euphoria
similar to cocaine, but lasts longer and is more addictive. It can be
snorted, smoked or injected.

Compared with other drugs, meth is easy to make, and the price has come
down -- from an estimated $1,420 per ounce in 1995 to $1,265 in 1999.

"You've got the cocaine and the crack -- the rich man's high and then
you've got the poor man's high -- and this seems to be everybody's high,"
said Demetrias McIntosh, a probation officer from St. Joseph County in
northern Indiana.

She and others who attended the daylong conference heard presentations on
meth's effects, how it is made, the hazards posed by the drug's production
and how to treat those addicted to the drug.

Authorities believe that Indianapolis, where four interstate highways
converge, is a transportation hub for distributing the drug, State Police
Superintendent Mel Carraway said.

As quickly as large-scale meth dealers are prosecuted, smaller, homegrown
labs seem to pop up to replace them, said Susan Brooks, the U.S. attorney
for southern Indiana. State police project they will dismantle 800 meth
labs by the end of the year.

The solution, Hutchinson said, is to attack not only the supply, but the
demand.

Courts should offer treatment as an alternative to prison time for
nonviolent drug offenders, and businesses' drug-testing policies must also
include remedial treatment for employees who test positive, Hutchinson said.