Pubdate: Fri, 17 May 2002 Source: Oak Ridger (TN) Copyright: 2002 The Oak Ridger Contact: http://www.oakridger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1146 Author: Duncan Mansfield, Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?194 (Hutchinson, Asa) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) TENNESSEE BATTLE AGAINST METH ISN'T OVER, DEA DIRECTOR SAYS KNOXVILLE -- Drug Enforcement Administration Director Asa Hutchinson suggested Thursday that Tennessee may be winning the battle against methamphetamine but the drug war isn't over. U.S. Attorney Sandy Mattice agreed, saying that a task force attack on the highly addictive stimulant begun three years ago in southeast Tennessee will be expanded to all 41 counties in East Tennessee. "In Tennessee, we know that the number of labs seized and taken down by law enforcement is dramatically up," Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor and Arkansas congressman, told a news conference. "I think that is a tribute to good law enforcement, but also a reflection of the fact that methamphetamine is increasing in its home use and development," he said. Hutchinson is touring the country as part of what he calls his "Methamphetamine in America: Not in Our Town Tour." Over the next three months, he plans to visit 30 states where meth has become a problem. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies formed a Southeast Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force in response to the explosive growth of the so-called poor man's cocaine in 18 southeastern counties. "We are very proud of the results," Mattice said. Since late 1999, the task force has seized 684 methamphetamine labs, arrested more than 515 people, confiscated more than 140 weapons and returned 148 federal indictments. These drug lab seizures represent 75 percent of the meth lab seizures in the state, pointing to the concentration of both criminal and law enforcement interest in methamphetamine in southeast Tennessee. "Our intelligence from the field indicates that within the task force region, overall volume of methamphetamine activities seems to be on the decline," Mattice said. "Unfortunately, we cannot report the scourge of methamphetamine has disappeared entirely from East Tennessee. "Indeed, we believe that we are beginning to see a rise in activity in more of the northeast counties of the state." A methamphetamine lab exploded last week in a mobile home in Hawkins County, killing two men and severely injuring a third. Hutchinson said the DEA has been tracking the eastward spread of methamphetamine from California for several years. The drug's greatest appeal seems to be in rural areas, where it can be easily made with readily available contents: cold pills, nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol, salt and batteries. "To call it a lab is almost a misnomer," Mattice said. "What we call a lab consists of nothing more sophisticated than maybe one or two beakers, gasoline containers, coffee filters and cold remedy." But the results can be dangerous not only for the manufacturer and the user, but anyone living near a meth lab, the law enforcement officers who raid it and the environmental workers who clean it up. "Can we get a handle on this in Tennessee?" Hutchinson said he asked local law enforcement agencies. "The answer was: Yes." - --- MAP posted-by: Alex