Pubdate: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 Source: Huntsville Item (TX) Copyright: 2005 Huntsville Item and Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. Contact: http://www.itemonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1126 Author: Kelly Prew METH AND DESTRUCTION, PART II Law enforcement officers nationwide are fighting a growing methamphetamine epidemic that is not immune to any demographic, and Walker County is no exception. The attraction to meth by users is debatable, but Walker County Sheriff's narcotics Detective Justin Smith says once a person takes the first hit, there's no turning back. "Once you do it, you're done - you're hooked," Smith said. "We see high school kids who are users of meth. College kids are attracted to it because they can stay up all night, get very focused." Smith said meth can produce a high for more than 10 hours and even several days in some cases, opposed to a four-or five-hour high from crack cocaine. "Meth is so addictive," he said. "It's more addictive than any other narcotic I have dealt with." Walker County Sheriff Clint McRae was a member of the former Central East Texas Narcotics Task Force for more than 10 years before taking his current post, and his stories dealing with meth users paint a graphic picture. "'How addictive is this stuff? Explain it to me in a way I might understand.' I asked a user that one time, and he paused and looked back at me and said, 'Sir, you know how you desire your next breath? Multiply that by 100.' "That really made me realize what this stuff can do. Some users lose everything they own - their home, business, marriage. I've even know them to walk away from their children." Both Smith and McRae recognize there's a growing meth problem in Walker County, but it's not only users. More and more discoveries of labs and communities of meth culture are significant. "The meth problem in this county is substantial," Smith said. "We're starting to see more ice meth. It's becoming the prominent form, possibly because it can be mass produced by more people." "Ice" is a form of meth that is cooked into a crystal form, visually similar to rock salt but smaller. The going rate for a little more than an ounce is about $1,300. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ranks Texas the top-yielding state in the nation for methamphetamine seizures. In 2002, approximately 288 pounds were seized. By 2004, that number jumped to about 1,481 pounds, an amount that could garner more than $28 million on the street. "It all boils down to money," Smith said. "This is the least expensive drug to produce, and has a good return on the street." Texas, like many states, now requires pharmacists to keep products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine behind counters. These components are used to produce meth and are relatively easy to obtain in forms of over-the-counter cold medications such as Sudafed and Claratin-D. Other factors make it easier to produce. Rural areas, like Walker County, are often hubs for production because there are acres of land in remote, wooded areas to hide labs. But labs have gone mobile now, and production can be done in car trunks and storage buildings. A process that just a few years ago took 36 to 48 hours and required much stronger chemicals, now can be complete in five to eight hours with less odor-causing material. Smith said meth addicts are dangerous because of the level of paranoia the drug use causes. Producers, who often dabble in their own products, will go to great lengths to elude the law, often booby trapping their laboratories with shotguns and buckets of acid. "They don't sell meth on the street," he explained. "They are so paranoid, they don't deal with just anyone. Dealing with people in meth is one of the most dangerous aspects of narcotics, if not the most. When we bust a lab, we don't want to hang out there, and we don't want to have a shoot-out there, that's for sure. The chemicals they deal with are highly volatile. Fumes from a meth lab could kill somebody." Walker County Sheriff's Office and Central East Texas Narcotics Task Force officers busted 125 meth labs in a two-year period in Walker and surrounding counties, totaling between 250 to 300 arrests. Meth possession or the presence of a meth lab, even without a final product, will result in a felony charge. "That arrest number is not including actual buys or delivery of product," McRae said. "Those figures are arrests made from the lab busts. Usually, there are a multitude of people involved." Walker County law enforcement officers are committed to efforts to educate people about meth use and to try to eradicate the problem, but the struggle seems overwhelming at times. "For the time, this is the most destructive, most dangerous drug we are dealing with today," McRae said. "When we have dealt with heroin, it was spotty, nothing of this magnitude. "We've put in a lot of man hours and a lot of money to take care of what we can. We are going to hammer away at this, so no one should feel like they're safe. If they're involved in meth, their card will be pulled one day. This drug is the root of so many evils, we'll find them one way or another." Smith added, "It's a national epidemic. If we don't get a handle on it, it will keep snowballing. People don't recover from this too well. There are fewer recovered meth addicts than any other." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth