Pubdate: Fri, 25 Jun 2004
Source: Decatur Daily (AL)
Copyright: 2004 The Decatur Daily
Contact:  http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/index.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/696
Author: Abby Foster, DAILY Business Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

POLICE BRIEF PUBLIC ABOUT METH ABUSE

Local Busts Jump 300 Percent

The number of methamphetamine busts rose 300 percent last year in Morgan 
County, authorities said Thursday, reflecting a problem that continues to 
grow across the region.

While discussing the recent rise in methamphetamine production at a public 
meeting at the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, law enforcement 
agents explained how the drug works in the body, how users can easily make 
it in the home, and how officials are trying to curb use and production.

Growing Problem

"Methamphetamine arrests have exploded in Morgan County in the past year, 
year-and-a-half," said District Attorney Bob Burrell. During the last grand 
jury session, jurors heard 90 cases of methamphetamine possession.

In recent years, Burrell said, most meth cases in Morgan County have been 
possession arrests resulting from traffic stops. Authorities usually find 
people with a small quantity in their cars. In the past year, however, 
police are finding home laboratories.

"You can make your own dope," said Fred Gasbarro, an officer with the Drug 
Enforcement Administration.

He said that's why methamphetamine is so widely used. Most involve small 
"bathtub labs," where people make their own supply and don't sell large 
quantities.

"It's extremely addictive. It makes crack cocaine look like M&M's," said 
Gasbarro. Authorities said the labs are hazardous because they use toxic, 
flammable and readily available chemicals.

Often people who have already been awake for several days are making 
methamphetamine on hot plates with drain cleaner, iodine, alcohols, ethers 
and red phosphorus. Sometimes they accidentally ignite the flammable 
liquids, causing injuries or death. The chemicals sometimes form 
undetectable toxic gases, which can kill those breathing them.

Those dangers make methamphetamine labs potentially hazardous for neighbors 
and other people who may be in the house with the lab. Dismantling 
methamphetamine labs is also hazardous for authorities.

Rethinking Emphasis

Gasbarro explained that recent law enforcement efforts are focusing on 
stores selling the common materials from which methamphetamine is made. 
Pseudoephedrine is the starting material from which labs synthesize 
methamphetamine in the presence of household cleaning agents and 
fire-starting fluids. Pseudoephedrine is the main ingredient in most 
over-the-counter cold medications.

Wal-Mart, for example, limits customers to purchasing only a couple 
packages of pseudoephedrine-containing medications per visit to discourage 
people from stockpiling it.

Officers explained that, while meth is on the rise in Morgan County, it 
does not match the production in several other more rural North Alabama 
counties. DeKalb and other counties have actually seen a downturn in 
methamphetamine production recently, however, which officers attribute to 
greater community awareness and grant money the counties received to combat 
the problem. 
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