Pubdate: Sun, 06 Jun 2004
Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
Copyright: 2004 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: John Stevenson, The Herald-Sun

OFFICIALS: METH COMING TO DURHAM

DURHAM -- The official name is methamphetamine.

For conversational convenience, some shorten it to
meth.

Others simply call it speed.

It is a synthetic drug with a reportedly longer-lasting, more powerful
effect than cocaine -- and for a cheaper price.

Law-enforcement officials in Durham view it as a menace that is slowly
but inexorably spreading its addiction-producing tentacles from west
to east. The Bull City has come within striking distance, they say.

Last week, what was believed to be only the second methamphetamine
trafficking case in Durham history arose. A 36-year-old man named
Jimmie D. Sharpe Jr. was charged with possessing about 201 grams of
methamphetamine, along with 125 tablets of the popular club drug ecstasy.

Under the law, it takes only 28 grams of methamphetamine to reach a
trafficking -- or wholesale -- level. Sharpe, who is being held under
a $75,000 bond, allegedly had almost 10 times that amount.

Sharpe was caught after an anonymous tip to authorities, who stopped a
suspected car and then got a warrant to search an apartment. The
methamphetamine was in the car. Ecstasy and some marijuana were in the
apartment.

If convicted, Sharpe would receive a mandatory minimum prison sentence
of seven years and six months to more than nine years. A $100,000 fine
also would be imposed.

At the top level of methamphetamine trafficking - 400 grams or more
- - the punishment rises to at least 19 years in prison and a $250,000
fine.

Recognizing the danger, the Legislature has set the penalties even
higher than those for cocaine, and it is currently working to up the
ante even more.

For many, the Sharpe case was a wake-up call.

Assistant District Attorney David Saacks, a senior drug prosecutor in
Durham, predicted that methamphetamine soon would take its place
beside cocaine and heroin as a drug of choice in Durham.

He said methamphetamine first became popular in the western United
States and spread across the Mississippi River several years ago. It
recently became a major problem in the mountains of North Carolina,
where primitive drug-producing laboratories reportedly are springing
up as fast as moonshine stills once did.

Although no labs have yet been found in or near Durham, the new
trafficking case is an ominous sign, according to Saacks and others.

"I think it's definitely getting here," Saacks said last week. "The
rush-crush hasn't arrived yet, but it seems to be moving in from the
west. You can almost plot it on the map, spreading eastward like a
plague."

Saacks said authorities in Western North Carolina were "seeing all
kinds of meth. If it's real bad there, chances are it's going to be
real bad here sooner or later," he predicted.

"There's no reason for it not to get here," the prosecutor added.
"It's cheaper than crack [cocaine] and gives a more long-lasting
effect. For the same price, you get double the bang."

Before the Sharpe case arose last week, there was only one other known
incident of methamphetamine trafficking in Durham. Saacks said it
involved a pair of Hispanic suspects who were caught with two pounds
of the synthetic drug.

The suspects posted bond and fled about three years ago.

"I haven't heard anything more about them," said Saacks.

As a result, no convictions were obtained.

District Judge Craig Brown also has observed the west-to-east
progression of methamphetamine, prompting him to make dire predictions
for Durham.

He said he attended a judicial training program in Nevada six years
ago and noticed that methamphetamine already had outstripped cocaine
as a drug of choice there.

"It creates a high that can last from six to 18 hours," Brown added.
"I am not surprised to see it reaching Durham. It had to arrive here
at some point. It's very concerning. Judges in other jurisdictions
have said, 'If you think crack is bad, wait till you see this stuff.'
But we don't have enough experience in Durham to assess the threat.
That will only come with time.

"It will be interesting to follow the cultural trends in terms of
usage," said Brown. "In some parts of the country, meth has virtually
replaced cocaine. It remains to be seen whether that will happen here."

Veteran defense lawyer James D. "Butch" Williams predicted last week,
however, that methamphetamine was "too psychedelic" to ever become
popular with inner-city black residents.

"It's more or less a designer drug," Williams quipped. "The brothers
won't do it. It has not been a popular drug of choice for most inner
cities. But I will grant you one thing: it is a dangerous drug."

In a recent "North Carolina Drug Threat Assessment," the National Drug
Intelligence Center agreed with Williams on two points:
Methamphetamine is dangerous, and it has yet to become popular with
urban blacks.

"Most methamphetamine abusers in North Carolina are Caucasians living
in rural areas," the assessment said. "Generally, rates of
methamphetamine abuse are highest in western North Carolina, which is
mostly rural."

In McDowell County, many crack users switched to methamphetamine after
a large cocaine distribution ring was dismantled in February 2000,
according to the assessment.

The assessment said most of the methamphetamine in North Carolina was
produced in Mexico, California and the southwestern states "by Mexican
criminal groups."

"The Hickory Police Department ... reports that the availability of
methamphetamine transported into its jurisdiction by Mexican criminal
groups is increasing," the assessment warned. It said the amount of
methamphetamine produced in western North Carolina laboratories also
was on the rise.

Law-enforcement officers shut down 15 North Carolina labs from June
2000 to June 2001. Before that, only two or three labs were being
discovered each year.

Other alarming statistics indicated that the amount of methamphetamine
seized by federal authorities in North Carolina rose from five
kilograms in 1998 to 18 kilograms in 2001. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, wholesale
quantities of methamphetamine produced in Mexico and the southwestern
states sold for $12,000 to $15,000 per pound in North Carolina during
2001. At the retail level, the price was reported to be about $100 per
gram during the same year.

The Drug Intelligence Center said that methamphetamine abuse could
induce anxiety, insomnia, paranoia, hallucinations, mood swings and
delusions, sometimes spurring users to unpredictable and violent behavior.

Weapons - including AK-47 assault rifles, fully automatic submachine
guns and handmade explosives - routinely have been seized at western
North Carolina methamphetamine labs, the Intelligence Center noted.
And in October 2001, the Wautauga County Sheriff's Department reported
several drive-by shootings related to methamphetamine
distribution.

Maj. Lucy Zastrow of the Durham County Sheriff's Office pointed out
another potential danger last week. She said primitive methamphetamine
labs, containing a volatile mix of chemicals, were likely to explode.

"These things are dangerous," Zastrow cautioned. "They have a tendency
to blow up. The people doing this are not scientists. They can blow
themselves up. They can blow up officers who are attempting to seize
their labs.

"We're well aware of it," Zastrow said of the advancing
methamphetamine threat. "It wouldn't surprise us one bit if we find a
lab here before too long. It's becoming less of a designer drug. It's
becoming more available here and less expensive because it no longer
has to be imported as far."

To make sure officers are prepared, a statewide law-enforcement
committee voted at its last meeting to include information about
methamphetamine in its training curriculum. Zastrow is on the committee. 
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