NEW LAW CHEERED AS METH LAB BUSTS DROP ACROSS STATE

Criminals Have Less Access to Drug Ingredients

RALEIGH -- The number of methamphetamine labs busted by police in
North Carolina dropped by a third in the first three months of 2006, a
decline officials credit to a new state law that restricts the sale of
cold medicines used to make the highly addictive drug.

Authorities discovered 62 meth labs between Jan. 15, when the law took
effect, and the end of March, compared with 91 labs in the same period
of 2005, Attorney General Roy Cooper said.

"We still have them with us, but this new law appears to be working
because it's much more difficult for criminals to get the main
ingredients to make meth," Cooper said. "We were hoping to see quick
results, and we're seeing results."

In March alone, police raided 14 labs in 2006, compared with 40 labs
found last year and 33 in 2004, according to state figures. For the
entire first quarter, officials found 73 labs this year, compared with
108 last year and 81 in 2004.

The decline in lab busts certainly hasn't happened because law
enforcement is less effective than in the past, state Sen. John Snow
said Tuesday.

"They've still got their ear to the ground," he said, "just like
before."

Snow, D-Cherokee, hopes the legislation he supported to restrict sales
is the reason for fewer busts.

Most of the state's meth lab busts have been in Western North
Carolina. Rural areas help hide the pungent, ammonia smell that comes
from making meth.

"Since the stuff that it takes to make it has been restricted -- you
can't get it except in certain ways -- I have to think that that makes
a difference," he said.

The new law requires anyone who buys cold tablets containing
pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, such as Sudafed, to show a photo ID at
a store counter and sign a log. Most liquid, gel-capsule and
children's forms of the medicines, which are not generally used to
make the drug, remain freely available on retail store shelves.

In 2004, Oklahoma became the first state to restrict consumers'
ability to purchase products containing pseudoephedrine, limiting
their sale to pharmacies. Raids of meth labs there have since plunged,
and several other states, including Tennessee, Iowa, Minnesota,
Missouri and Oregon, have approved similar restrictions.

"We're the first state on the East Coast to do this and it's already
showing immediate, positive results," Cooper said.

North Carolina in 2004 toughened the penalties related to
manufacturing the drug and making it in front of children, but had
seen limited success in reducing the number of meth labs.

Methamphetamine -- also called crank, speed, ice or poor man's cocaine
- -- is cheap to make and often "cooked" in homes, cars or motels. It's
also easy to sell.

The drug creates a longer high than other drugs, and users can stay
awake for days at a time. Addiction leads to psychotic or violent
behavior and brain damage. Withdrawal symptoms include depression,
anxiety, fatigue, paranoia and aggression.

Production of meth began in the western United States and has been
spreading east for years. North Carolina's foothill and mountain
counties have been particularly besieged by the trade. Nine meth labs
were found in North Carolina in 1999. Four years later the number had
climbed to 177 labs, then almost doubled to 322 in 2004. There were
328 labs found in 2005.

Despite progress made so far this year, law enforcement officials say
a drop in labs doesn't translate into a drop in the use of meth.
Trafficking from other states and Mexico remains a problem.

"We haven't seen any labs this year so far," said Lt. Steve Carter,
who oversees the sheriff's department narcotics unit in Henderson
County. "The stuff we're getting in is from super labs, it's not these
mom and pop labs around here."

Fewer labs mean law officers will have more time to devote to busting
traffickers, Cooper said. A task force of local, state and federal law
officials should be in place by summer to coordinate the pursuit of
so-called "kingpin" dealers, he said.