Pubdate: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 Source: Jasper Newsboy, The (TX) Copyright: 2006 Hearst Communications, Inc. Contact: http://www.jaspernewsboy.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4206 Author: Jimmy Galvan METH ISSUE FRUSTRATES AUTHORITIES Southeast Texas' justice system stepped up its battle against what has become the most popular drug abused by users - methamphetamines - - beginning Thursday, Nov. 30, National M e t h a m p h e t a m i n e Awareness Day. "We want to bring the facts to the public," said U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Orwig of Beaumont. "Meth is a powerful poison. It kills the user while destroying the family and environment." Jasper Police Chief Todd Hunter, who worked on the growing meth problem in the Dallas area while with the Addison Police Department, said the problem would not go away by ignoring it. "You are taking volatile chemicals and placing them in your body and they are going to have an adverse affect," Hunter said. "Ninety percent of the people cannot do this in a recreational setting. This is not a recreational drug. "It destroys the person, the family and the community and that's why we have to deal with this as an impact drug," Hunter said. "This drug problem will go on forever until it is eradicated." For police agencies, drugs and their misuse seem to run through cycles in their popularity. The miscues of methamphetamines started in the 1970's and quickly fell off due to the volatile nature of producing the drug. A new method was developed, though, to produce meth and thus came the 'cold cook' method. This method subtracted the volatile chemical ether from the mix and reduced the bad smell from the process as well. "In the 70's, you literally had to go on somebody's land and be away from everybody to get away with it," Hunter said. "Now you don't have to. You can cook up a nice batch of it next door and no one will ever know it." U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales directed the U.S. Attorney's offices to make the prosecution of methamphetamine cooks and distributors a high priority. "We don't have any more of a problem than any other rural town in the United S t a t e s , " Hunter said. "Some have been harder hit than others but we are in a high density drug trafficking area so we do have a problem with methamphetamines." Hunter said the Jasper area is plagued by the usage of methamphetamine, crack cocaine and the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs. "Our problem here is the usage of the drugs but at one point here we had a problem with the manufacturing of these drugs," Hunter said. "All are very devastating to families and people." He admitted that the area has seen a decrease in the formation of the meth labs. "We have not had a local lab in the city limits of Jasper in quite some time," Hunter said. "That's not to say there isn't one but typically we are seeing a change in the way people are producing methamphetamines." However, Hunter admitted there is a new way meth is being refined - "ice." "Ice" is found in the form of clear, chunky crystals, similar in appearance to rock candy. Ice is a very pure, smokable form of methamphetamine and is more addictive than powder or tablets. In its original form, meth is formed to 35 or 40 percent of its purity. Super labs, as Hunter called them, are producing "ice" which is 85 percent pure. "That is devastating the Midwest now," Hunter said. "Texas has seen this for some time but the Midwest is now starting to see it. Those in the meth culture now feel that 'ice' provides a more intense high and they are seeking that out. No one in this area can manufacture 'ice.'" According to Hunter and police agencies, the majority of the 'ice' movement is being funneled through the Dallas area towards East Texas. Drug Enforcement Agency reports indicate the 'ice' is being shipped from Arizona and Mexico to Dallas. "It is being funneled into Dallas and then to the smaller rural areas such as Jasper," Hunter said. According to DEA statistics, approximately 8,600 clandestine lab clean-ups for state and local agencies were administered in 2005 and approximately 4,500 in 2006. In 2006, the DEA made 6,233 methamphetaminerelated arrests and seized 1,550 kilograms of the drug. He pointed to a couple of cases recorded in Jasper that showed the drugs coming from the Tyler and Dallas areas. It is vitally important in the prosecution of meth arrests to determine the purity of the meth recovered during an arrest. Federal prosecution can be sought for arrests made with pure 'ice' meth in their possession. "It falls under what is called a high impact drug," Hunter said. "They take these and crack cocaine because of its destruction on the family, community and the area. Anybody we find in possession of something that is 85 percent pure, we can go through the federal system with it. Hunter said even though the manufacturing of these drugs has decreased in recent months that doesn't mean there are no meth labs working in the county at this time. "We do know of some possible labs out in the county," Hunter said. "A county like this should be finding 15 to 20 labs a year because we have a lot of rural area where someone could go out and manufacture this stuff in confidence. The purpose of the special day was to stress the importance of education and public awareness, to inform the public of the dangers of continued use and the end, show the users that they will face prison time if they continue. "Once people become involved in this drug culture, they look for ways to get out," Hunter said. "These drugs are very addictive and it makes it very hard for them to get off of them on their own. They need a life change." He said he has helped those who have sought his help to end their drug usage. But unfortunately, help is not too close by. The nearest facility to deal with meth addiction is in Beaumont and in prisons. "You have to have treatment for this because you can't get off of it on your own," Hunter said. "If someone asks for help, I want to be able to find help for them." But in the end, those that continue to use and deal these drugs will face arrests and the judicial system. "I've always said you can't win the war on drugs because I don't like that analogy," Hunter said. "A war is something that is decisive - you have treaties. There have been drug addicts since the beginning of time so all we can do is make a big impact. "That is what we are trying to do here in Jasper," Hunter said. "We are not going to completely solve the drug issues we have but we can make an impact so that you have to look for a family that has been impacted by this drug. Right now, you would be hard pressed to find a family that hasn't been impacted by drug usage. I want to reverse that." - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine