Methamphetamine use on the rise, sheriff's official says

By PAULA DAVIS, Dickenson Star Editor

February 26, 2003

Illegal drug use in the county has taken a new direction, and it's turning many users and sellers into would-be chemists. The new trend among recreational drug users in the area seems to be methamphetamine, according to Jeff Green, the county's representative on the Southwest Narcotics Task Force.

Commonly known by names like meth, speed, crank and crystal, methamphetamine is by no means a new drug, says Green. But its use is on the rise in Dickenson County, he said. Just last week, law enforcement found three meth labs in the county.

THE NEW THING

"It's the new thing - the new trend for drug users," Green noted.

The highly addictive drug can be made using common ingredients such as over-the-counter cold medications, acetone and rock salt. Ingredients and recipes aren't really that hard to find, Green said.

It is cooked up in homemade labs using items such as paint thinner, camping fuel, starter fluid, gasoline additives, mason jars and coffee filters. Setting up a lab doesn't require a lot of room.

"It just depends on how much you're manufacturing. Some are making it to sell, but some just do it for themselves and their buddies, " Green said. "You can have a lab the size of a desk top, or one that will fit in a bathtub."

The drug can be made in several different forms, including pills, powder and clumps. It can be taken orally, snorted, smoked or injected.

Meth gives users a so-called "rush" by stimulating the central nervous system. "You'll know these guys are on some kind of drug, but may not know exactly what," Green said.

"These guys are thin, they don't eat much and they don't sleep much," he added.

Green said local officers aren't really surprised by the increase in methamphetamine manufacturing in the county, however.

The same trend is happening in other areas where OxyContin abuse was prevalent about two years ago.

For a while, OxyContin, a prescription opiate, seemed to be the preferred drug of local recreational drug users, Green noted. Now he's worried that methamphetamine is taking its place.

"I think it is," he said. Most of the stories Green has heard about meth sound hauntingly the same, he said.

"People start on OxyContin. Then they go to a methadone clinic to try to get off Oxy. But that doesn't work because methadone is just dope, too. And then they go to methamphetamine," he said. "I can't name one person who was shooting Oxy who still isn't on it or methadone or methamphetamine."

One of Green's biggest concerns is that people don't realize how dangerous the drug is, not just its use but also its manufacture.

The chemicals used to make the drug are hazardous and explosive. "You've got 18- and 19-year-old kids who have no idea that if you mix the wrong thing, you'll blow the entire house up," Green said. These young "cooks" can also inhale toxic fumes, he added.

FIGHTING THE PROBLEM

Last Tuesday's discovery of three meth labs was the largest in the county's history, and Green has no doubt there are more out there.

He said there is no certain age group using the drug, either. "The group we arrested last week were mostly young, but we're seeing it in all ages," he noted.

Green said sheriff's investigators plan to continue working with federal agents to seize more meth labs in the county.

Last year, the sheriff's department joined with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to create the Dickenson County-ATF Violent Crimes Task Force. As part of a task force initiative, all firearms and narcotics investigations in the county are now reviewed by ATF agents for federal prosecution.

The task force has provided better resources for investigating narcotics violations, Green noted. Plus, drug traffickers are prosecuted more quickly and face stiffer penalties at the federal level, he said.

So far, the task force has been an asset to the sheriff's department, Green noted.

But, believe it or not, some people have actually voiced criticism about it, he said.

In fact, one of the sheriff's deputies received some negative comments about the department's involvement in the task force following last week's arrests, he said.

Instead of commending officers for their work, the man mostly focused on the federal agents involvement. "We're hearing things like, 'Can't y'all do anything? Y'all ain't smart enough to catch 'em on your own, so you gotta get the feds in here?'" Green noted.

But smarts has nothing to do with it, Green said. It's more about manpower and money, and the sheriff's department has a limited amount of both.

For instance, a "cleanup crew" came from Columbus, Ohio, to assist in last week's seizures. Cleanup on one lab alone will cost between $5,000 and $8,000, Green said.

But because federal officers were involved in the investigation, the DEA is footing the bill, he continued.

"Plus, they've got the equipment we don't have," he added.

Those with information about suspected methamphetamine manufacture, distribution or use in the county should contact the sheriff's department at 276-926-1600.

©Coalfield.com 2003

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