Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jun 2002
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2002 The Des Moines Register.
Contact: http://DesMoinesRegister.com/help/letter.html
Website: http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Anna Jo Bratton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH HAS DEA CHIEF CONCERNED

Growing Drug Problem, Especially Around Kids, Worries Experts

A Davenport couple were charged Sunday with making methamphetamine 
while the couple's 2-year-old granddaughter slept nearby, a situation 
common in 70 percent of meth arrests nationwide, experts say.

Drug Enforcement Agency Director Asa Hutchinson visited Iowa on 
Monday as part of a nationwide tour to talk about the growing meth 
problem, especially around children.

Iowa officials echoed Hutchinson's concern.

"Meth is an adult drug," and many parents are addicted, said Bruce 
Upchurch, Iowa's drug policy coordinator. "Once they get addicted to 
these drugs, they don't care if their children are exposed. When that 
happens, they become very, very dangerous to their children."

Davenport authorities charged David Zaruba, 47, and his wife, Duretta 
Zaruba, 42, with possession of drugs with the intent to deliver and 
child endangerment after police received a report of a strange odor 
in their neighborhood. Officers said they found a meth lab in the 
Zaruba home, less than 1,000 feet from Fillmore Elementary School.

Drug possession charges and final sentencing could be enhanced 
because of the nearby public school, Upchurch said.

Meth is an addictive stimulant that causes paranoia and violent 
outbursts and can be fatal. The smell associated with cooking meth is 
a strong, acidic smell often associated with cat urine, he said.

Although much of the meth in Iowa comes from out of state, a rising 
threat is from labs operating in residential areas, much of the time 
with children present, Hutchinson said.

A child who lives in a Des Moines mobile home was not present 
Saturday when police arrested James Reinier, 40, on suspicion of 
manufacturing meth in the home at 3325 Hubbell Ave. A passer-by 
noticed an unusual smell and contacted police.

As of May 16, Iowa officials had received reports of 371 meth labs or 
sites where materials used to make the drug were dumped and required 
cleanup, Upchurch said. Last year by mid-May, authorities had cleaned 
up 309 meth sites, with 771 sites reported for the entire year. A 
meth lab costs an average of $3,200 to clean up, meaning about $1.8 
million was spent last year in Iowa on cleanup alone.

The increase in the number of meth labs and dump sites found is the 
result of both more meth being manufactured and more enforcement, 
Hutchinson said.

Police in Davenport discovered a cooler containing what they believe 
is anhydrous ammonia, along with wrapping from pseudo-ephedrine 
packages and lithium strips. Those substances often are used to make 
meth in Iowa, Upchurch said, because anhydrous ammonia is readily 
available in fertilizer.

New concern may be warranted about nationwide drug trafficking, said 
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia. When 400 FBI agents are shifted from other 
projects to the national Homeland Security Department, the war on 
drugs could end up on the back burner, he said.

"Let's not forget, we have a terrorist threat right here in Iowa, and 
it's called methamphetamine," Harkin said Monday.

Harkin and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., are seeking approval for a 
Midwest Drug Training Center that would be at Camp Dodge in Johnston.

The proposed center for law enforcement officers would cost about $3 
million to establish and $5 million per year to maintain. 
Mississippi, Florida and California have such centers, but there is 
"a big hole here in the Midwest," Grassley said.

"When you're going after these labs, it happens here, not in 
Washington," Harkin said.
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