Pubdate: Wed, 10 Apr 2002
Source: Tennessean, The (TN)
Copyright: 2002 The Tennessean
Contact:  http://www.tennessean.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447
Author: Leon Alligood

DRUG CZAR: METH WOES TO CONTINUE

The head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration offered this blunt 
assessment of the methamphetamine epidemic that has swept through Tennessee 
since 1999: The end is not in sight.

"I don't believe we've seen the peak effect in Tennessee," Asa Hutchinson 
said yesterday during a visit to Nashville to attend a meeting of senior 
DEA executives.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Larry Wallace echoed the federal 
official. "Right now, this" - methamphetamine - "is the scourge we have," 
he said.

Despite fears that the worst is yet to come, both men said their agencies 
are making progress to curtail the spread of the highly addictive drug, 
which can be made from common ingredients in homemade "labs."

Hutchinson, a former congressman from Arkansas, said the DEA has a 
three-pronged strategy: precursor control, education and international 
enforcement.

Precursors are the chemicals used to transform pseudoephedrine, an 
ingredient of many over-the-counter cold remedies, into methamphetamine. 
Lye, acetone and iodine are examples.

"We have been effective in our precursor control," Hutchinson said, noting 
that much of the success comes from cooperation between law enforcement 
agencies and retailers, who contact police when an individual purchases a 
large amount of chemicals.

"When we can get that cooperation from the citizenry it makes our job 
tremendously easier," Wallace added.

Most labs raided in Tennessee have been "user labs," capable of making 
grams of the drug at a time. In contrast, California and other states have 
seen raids on many "super labs," which have the capacity to make 10 pounds 
at a time.

"It's not difficult to get enough pseudoephedrine to produce a small amount 
in a small lab, but it's much more difficult to get the volume of chemicals 
for a super lab," Hutchinson said.

However, three weeks ago Carroll County authorities foiled a super lab, 
believed to be the state's first.

"We want to watch this to see if this was an isolated incident of an 
ambitious meth cook or whether that is a trend that is starting," 
Hutchinson said.

On the education front, the DEA is organizing a dozen methamphetamine 
summits across the country during the next year.

"We'll involve all aspects of the population. We'll have treatment 
officials, education officials, community leaders and law enforcement, all 
talking about how we can attack the meth problem," the federal official said.

The agency's international assault has focused on Mexico, where numerous 
drug cartels have flooded the United States with methamphetamine.

"I'm very pleased with the increased cooperation with Mexico. It's a good 
foundation," Hutchinson said.

At the state level, Wallace said the TBI is ratcheting up its fight against 
meth with the addition of forensic scientists in Chattanooga and Nashville, 
who will analyze the drugs taken from raided labs.

"This will help us from a prosecutorial standpoint," Wallace said. His 
agency is also purchasing four lab trucks that will aid local police and 
the DEA in examining a meth site, the TBI director said. He added that nine 
new agent positions are included in next year's proposed state budget, and 
those agents would focus on the meth problem.
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