'POOR MAN'S COCAINE' EPIDEMIC SPREADING

Meth is scary stuff.

The ease of making methylamphetamine, combined with its potent "high," has
caused the drug to become increasingly popular in North Alabama.

Methylamphetamine, also called "meth," "crystal meth" and "crank," was the
subject of a recent indictment of a Falkville man. Yesterday a police
officer was injured in Fort Payne while raiding a meth lab. Not long ago, a
suspected meth lab triggered a raid at a Decatur Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart
arrests came because a security officer noticed customers purchasing large
amounts of ingredients used in the manufacture of crystal meth. The federal
Drug Enforcement Administration has conducted numerous raids in North
Alabama: 43 in the year ending September 2000, 67 in the year ending
September 2001 and already 43 since Oct. 1 2001.

The proliferation of the drug is in part a result of the Internet. Precise
instructions (or "recipes") on the manufacture (or "cooking") of crystal
meth are easy to find.

Adding to the pervasiveness of the drug is the fact that all of the
ingredients necessary in its manufacture are both legal and readily
available. While recipes vary, most use the following items: Heet or some
other antifreeze containing methyl alcohol, matches or road flares,
pseudoephedrine tablets, lye, lighter fluid, muriatic acid and denatured
alcohol. Apparatus typically includes cigar tubes or test tubes with
stoppers, a candle or hot plate, coffee filters, small balloons, and an
eyedropper or syringe.

Methylamphetamine is often referred to as a "poor man's cocaine." Unlike
cocaine, methylamphetamine can be made by anyone with simple instructions,
easily accessible materials and readily available chemicals.

According to an out-of-state source, recent arrests at Wal-Mart are not a
coincidence. The source, who referred to himself as "Vincent," claims to
work at a meth lab in Michigan. I contacted him through the Internet.

Wal-Mart is the supplier of choice for meth manufacturers, says Vincent,
"because it carries all of the ingredients we need and the stores usually
have lots of cashiers." The significance of multiple cashiers is that the
required ingredients can be purchased at a single store with less
likelihood of arousing suspicion. According to Vincent in an e-mail, all of
the materials "to set up a portable micro lab can be bought for less than $20."

One "batch" from such a lab yields about .75 grams (750 milligrams) of
crystal meth, according to Vincent. Because the dose needed for a crystal
meth "high" is about 60 milligrams, Vincent said, a single batch is plenty
for a small group of people. According to Vincent, a batch of crystal meth
can be produced in less than three hours.

On the street, Vincent says that crystal meth is sold by the "line," which
is an amount of powder about three centimeters long and three millimeters
wide. In the area where he lives, the street cost of crystal meth is about
$20 for three "lines."

The substance is typically a white powder and looks like cocaine, according
to Vincent. Occasionally crystal meth has a yellow or pink tint resulting
from residual dye in one of its ingredients, pseudoephedrine. The drug also
is usually "snorted" into the nose like cocaine.

In testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee
on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources on July 12, 2001, DEA
Chief of Operations Joseph D. Keefe explained, Methylamphetamine is, in
fact, a simple drug to produce. A user can go to retail stores and easily
purchase the vast majority of the ingredients necessary to manufacture the
drug. Items such as rock salt, battery acid, red phosphorous road flares,
pool acid, and iodine crystals can be utilized to substitute for some of
the necessary chemicals."

The proliferation of meth labs is such that, since 1997, more than 97
percent of the DEA's lab seizures have been of methylamphetamine and
amphetamine labs.

According to the DEA, methylamphetamine street prices range from $20 to
$200 per gram.

Increased law enforcement attention to "precursors," that is, easily
accessible chemicals that a "cook" converts to meth ingredients, has led to
a black market for otherwise legal substances.

There were 1,116 meth labs seized by law enforcement authorities in the
Southeast between January 1999 and July 2001, according to a report by the
National Drug Intelligence Center, an office of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Meth is an exceptionally dangerous drug.

According to Vincent, the primary dangers during the cooking process are
greatly reduced if the process is performed outside. The main risk is from
the methyl alcohol, which is flammable. The other risk involves combining
the red phosphorous and iodine. If not mixed properly, fire can result.

Of course, the most profound danger is to the meth user, referred to on the
street as a "tweaker."

According to the DEA, meth use "increases the heart rate, blood pressure,
body temperature, and rate of breathing, and it frequently results in
violent behavior in users."

One former user who talked to me by phone on condition of anonymity
recalled two of his friends who were on an extended meth "high." He watched
as they tried to pick nonexistent "blue bugs" off of their skin, leaving
deep gouges. Not satisfied, they stripped off their clothes and poured
bleach on each other trying to kill the bugs.

Meth use also "dilates the pupils and produces temporary hyperactivity,
euphoria, a sense of increased energy, and tremors. High doses or chronic
use have been associated with increased nervousness, irritability, and
paranoia. Withdrawal from high doses produces severe depression," according
to the DEA.

Because of the highly addictive nature of meth, users frequently are unable
to quit. Chronic abuse leads to severe mental problems characterized by
paranoia, picking at the skin and hallucinations.

DEA studies demonstrate that "violent and erratic behavior is frequently
seen among chronic, high-dose methylamphetamine abusers." According to the
DEA, it is not unusual for a chronic user to go without sleep for three to
15 days. The user becomes "irritable and paranoid.

The tweaker has an intense craving for more meth; however, no dosage will
help recreate the euphoric high."

Help is available for meth users at Quest recovery center in Decatur, which
can be reached at 353-9116.