NAPANEE'S 'ICE' KEEPS DRUG ENFORCEMENT TEAM HOPPING

Methamphetamine - Part 4

Basic recipe for disaster:

- - alter the chemical makeup of ephedrine

- - add a smidge of drain cleaner

- - stir in a lithium battery or two

- - slowly fold in a dollop of antifreeze.

This recipe is courtesy of Detective Dave Glass of the Ontario
Provincial Police Drug Enforcement Section in Kingston.

Of course, all good cooks have their special touches. The following
ingredients are optional:

- - anhydrous ammonia

- - iodine

- - red phosphorous

Quicker than you can even say "recipe for disaster"=AD you've got
crystal meth. Bon apetit!

"If people only knew what they are putting into themselves they might
want to reconsider what they are doing," said Glass.

"I don't mind telling them what's in it," he said, listing off
ingredients such as kerosene, toluene (brake cleaner), sulfuric acid,
trichloroethane (gun cleaner) and sometimes ether.

"Even if you get the recipe off the net, while it is simple in theory,
there is a knack to it," said Glass.

"There are three basic recipes and a number of variations like adding
rat poison. When they are combined and synthesized the sky is the
limit," he added.

"With anhydrous ammonia (a farm fertilizer), if you inhale it, it will
melt your lungs.

"It comes in the form of gas in big tanks. You can see how it reacts
with the brass fitting on the top of the tank, turning it a bright
blue as it corrodes. Imagine what it is doing to their lungs," added
Glass.

He said a `cook' is a the person who makes up the batches of crystal
meth.

"They usually have at least a rudimentary knowledge of chemical
processes, access to equipment and a heat source. An ordinary kitchen
will do just fine. Often they will steal equipment from high school
science labs," he said.

Glass should know. He has been hunting down users, dealers and cooks
for three and a half years.

Glass stated, "Meth is getting more popular in Napanee. I don't have
the stats before me although three years ago meth seizures were rare
and now they are extremely common. In Napanee there is more meth than
cocaine and most of it is made out of town," said Glass.

According to Glass, "The typical user is under the age of 30. There is
no distinction between males or females as far as usage goes. They are
the same type of people who are prone to use cocaine or other illicit
drugs. They are looking for an inexpensive, potent high," he added.

Crystal ice is the most common form, although through chemical
synthesis the drug can be altered to powder for snorting, crystal for
smoking, and users can add water for injecting. "It's a matter of
tweaking the process," said Glass, noting the preferred methods are
smoking or snorting.

"In Kingston it's called whip and in Napanee it's called ice," he
added.

The first challenge for drug enforcement officials is the difficulty
of detecting a meth lab.

"Often concerned citizens report a lab or the purchase of the
precursor ingredients: chemicals like Sudafed, drain cleaner, lithium
batteries and solvents," Glass said.

"Sometimes a lab will blow up. It is a very volatile process. The
ingredients are unstable, highly flammable and extremely toxic," said
Glass. There are no figures available for Canada, but Glass said in
the United States it is estimated one in 14 labs blows up.

Then there are the environmental concerns, just as important for
non-users. For every ounce of crystal meth produced, six ounces of
toxic sludge is left. It is dumped down drains or into ditches.

"When we go in to clean up a lab it's huge. We wear full-face
respiration gear with oxygen tanks. We bring in specially trained
investigators and a chemist from Health Canada," Glass said.

"The Hazardous Waste Disposal Team attends. They are trained to
package it for transport. There is only one place in Canada that
accepts the sludge and that is out in Alberta. It takes days to clean
up. It is hugely expensive and time consuming," said Glass.

It takes money to buy crystal meth. "The user needs a source of
revenue and, as their habit increases, legitimate sources (like jobs)
are taxed, so they resort to unlawful activity to finance their drug
habit," said Glass.

According to Glass, "Crystal meth is 10 times more potent than
powdered cocaine. The desired high is more intense and lasts longer.
It sells for about the same price as cocaine $80-100 per gram of
the pure stuff that's good for about a couple of snorts.

"There is a chain from the cooks who produce it through intermediaries
and subordinate dealers. Each time it changes hands they add cut or
buff (filler) to increase the volume and profit margin," he said.

Glass said you need a filler that is the mirror image of the product.
Commonly for crystal meth they use Epsom salts as the cut. In a recent
seizure in Brockville they found the cooks were using bromic acid
which is a pesticide.

"Because meth use is becoming more rampant, the courts see it more
often and are beginning to treat it like the serious drug it is," said
Glass.

A recent change to the Controlled Drug or Substance Act has increased
maximum penalties for production of the drug. The original penalty of
not exceeding 10 years has been changed to a maximum of life
imprisonment.

"It is rare to find a set of circumstances that would warrant life
imprisonment though," said Glass. He added, "Simple possession is a
maximum of seven years imprisonment, up from the previous sentence of
three years."

The crown attorney was not available for comment on the apparent
increase in cases involving crystal meth.

Glass admitted that there are few charges laid due to the nature of
the labs. "The ingredients are legal and easily obtained. The labs are
transient and don't need much space. It takes very little time to cook
up a batch. Usually the site is cold by the time we hear about it and
get there."

Ron Armstrong, manager of Drug Analysis for the Ontario laboratory of
Health Canada., said that police forward samples of material they find
in clandestine labs or seize from individuals. Once analyzed, if found
to contain illicit drugs, the samples are used as evidence in cases
involving illegal substances. There are no statistics available but
there is an increase in the samples submitted.

"We never know what we are going to get till we analyze it. Recently
we are finding that MDMA tablets (known by the street name of ecstasy)
actually contain methamphetamines," said Armstrong, adding, "There is
no quality control."

MDMA is an amphetamine itself but users have very different reactions
to those containing the more potent methamphetamine.

They are finding combinations of 25 different ingredients such as
cocaine, ketamine (a horse tranquilizer) and the relatively harmless
caffeine, added to MDMA tablets.

"Meth is not new. It's a fad drug and we are seeing more of it. It is
very popular in the U.S. and on the West Coast of Canada," said
Armstrong, agreeing that it is rapidly moving east.

Armstrong said, "A chemist conducting tests on these substances works
in a properly vented area with an air exchanger so we don't breathe in
any fumes." When it is cooked up in a garage or kitchen, "Anyone
living there will be exposed.

Glass has the last word: "They also call meth speed probably
because it's a quick means to an end their own."