February 13, 1996
Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EST
From Correspondent Anthony Collings
ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) -- Methamphetamine, once an obscure drug, is now in the spotlight of law enforcement. It's become such a worry for the Drug Enforcement Administration that on Tuesday it opened a three-day conference on the threat.
From 1991 to 1994, meth-related hospital emergency cases in the nation rose 256 percent. The drug looks like cocaine, but it can be cheaper, easier to make, and more dangerous.
"Initially, it's good, but it's a very frightening drug and you have no idea when it will grab hold of you," said "Brian," a recovering meth user.
Indeed. A New Mexico man crazed by meth was charged with cutting off his own son's head. Sgt. Charles Illsley of the West Valley City Police Department in Utah said the wave of violence that follows use of the drug ranges from assault to dismemberment or mutilation-type homicides. "It's unbelievable," he said.
No matter how it's measured, the meth problem is growing. In Los Angeles, there were 134 meth-related deaths in 1994, more than twice the 1992 rate.
In Phoenix, 40 percent of all men arrested tested positive for the methamphetamine family of drugs. In Minneapolis, there was a 45 percent jump in admissions to treatment programs.
Reports have emerged of meth use spreading to cities such as Atlanta, Richmond, and Newark. "Some law enforcement officers have called it the most lethal drug to hit the streets in 30 years," Attorney General Janet Reno said at Tuesday's DEA conference.
Meth, a more potent form of amphetamine, was once mainly used by outlaw motorcycle gangs. But now it's spread to other groups. Unlike some other drugs, it can be made in home labs. One ingredient comes from cold remedies.
One alleged home lab exploded, and three children died in the fire. "People who have never experienced manufacturing or don't know what they're doing, basically can blow themselves up, poison themselves, cause themselves some very caustic burns," said Sgt. Johnny Sanchez of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Undercover police catch meth traffickers in various ways. The Salt Lake City police lured one man into their station by pretending it was a clandestine lab (672K QuickTime movie). But many real labs are hard to find; they're usually in rural locations or in Mexico.
At a national conference, the DEA urged a high-priority fight against meth, but some experts say the organization is exaggerating the problem.
"Certainly it is getting a little worse, and it requires some attention, but the evidence that we have is there is no evidence of a wide-scale adoption of this drug by people in the (U.S.)," said Eric Wish with the Center for Substance Abuse Research.
By focusing attention on the dangers of meth, the DEA wants to also target its own bid for an increased budget to fight the drug.
Officials concede that meth may never be as big a problem as cocaine, but they say that all the signs are there for a continuing threat.
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