April 29, 2005

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Publication Date: Friday, April 29, 2005

Busted

"It was a typical doper pad: dirty, rotten food and clothing everywhere. Then we found the lab. They had been cooking meth and were getting ready to move. All the apparatuses were in boxes and they had glassware and red devil lye in a backpack," said Special Investigations Unit Detective Kelly O'Neal as he described the methamphetamine lab Pleasanton police found at a residence on Alisal Road Jan. 19. After four months of surveillance and undercover work that started at a residence on Happy Valley Road, Pleasanton police, with the help of the California Department of Justice clandestine lab team, arrested James Hayes, 37, for operating a clandestine lab. Cynthia Blackwell, 38, and Fred Dorrance, 57, were also arrested in conjunction with the lab for possession of methamphetamine.

Labs such as the one on Alisal are becoming common as the use and sale of methamphetamine continues to grow. In 2000, Pleasanton police arrested 54 people for possession of synthetic drugs compared to 2004 when the number nearly doubled to 104 arrests.

"Meth use has been pretty constant in the valley," said Special Investigations Unit Sergeant Don Saulsbury. "I think it's the drug of choice because it's cheap, easy to come by, and pretty easy to make. People can make their own and sell it and that's why it's so prevalent."

Methamphetamine is a stimulant that comes in powder and crystal form and can be injected, snorted, ingested orally or smoked. When in its crystal form the drug is smoked and this is the most common intake method, said Marcy Hawkins, Director of R-Quest, a recovery center in Pleasanton.

Users usually experience an increase in activity, a decrease in appetite and an intense rush when they first take the drug that is difficult to duplicate the more they use.

"The thing about meth addiction is it's a feel good," said Rick Eastman, director of behavioral health at Axis Community Health Center. "One of the euphorias of meth is that you think you're doing every day things better than what you are, whereas marijuana and alcohol put you in a slower, depressed state."

Methamphetamine's popularity initially started across the country in 1997 because it has similar effects as cocaine, but at the time was much cheaper. In general, meth still tends to be cheaper than cocaine, but due to the laws of supply and demand the cost of meth has increased and at times may even cost more than cocaine.

"It's a big circle," O'Neal said. "The price of meth sky rockets because everyone wants it, so coke becomes cheaper and then people use more coke. That then makes the price of coke rise and meth fall, so people go back to meth."

Part of what makes methamphetamine so cheap and dangerous is how easy it is to manufacture. All of methamphetamine's components are legal substances that can be purchased at hardware or drug stores. In fact, the main ingredient in methamphetamine, ephedrine, is also the active ingredient in Sudafed. Methamphetamine manufacturers, or "cooks," extract the ephedrine from Sudafed and combine it with other materials, such as red phosphorous from matchbooks and red devil lye, a drain cleaner.

Methamphetamine labs have generally been characterized as a problem in rural areas where large barns and isolated spaces make it easy for cooks to set up shop. But with increasing technology and growing demand in suburban areas, methamphetamine has moved out of the barn and into homes. In fact, the Alisal lab was very typical of modern methamphetamine labs.

"We have found labs in some local motel rooms and people's homes," O'Neal said. "Labs are really easy and the newest way to cook is extremely dangerous. They are called 'one-pot cooks.' The cooks actually mix all the chemicals in a can and let it do its thing. Because it is all put in one can, it can be made in a very small area, as small as a kitchen sink."

The production of methamphetamine, although somewhat simple, is hazardous because it produces many toxic chemicals and if not done properly can cause explosions and fires, especially with the one-pot method, O'Neal said.

Several states have tried to curb the manufacturing of meth by restricting the amount of Sudafed that can be purchased at any one time and adding extensive documentation requirements for retailers of the medicine. Oklahoma has the most stringent Sudafed laws, requiring patrons to show photo identification and sign a log.

California passed a law in 2002 that limits retail sales of Sudafed to three packages, or nine grams, in one sale. Despite this regulation, meth cooks can side step the law by purchasing smaller quantities at several different stores and O'Neal said there have been incidents of people stealing large quantities of Sudafed.

Pfizer, the maker of Sudafed, also responded to the meth trend by producing a new Sudafed that does not contain ephedrine. Sudafed PE was released to stores in February 2005 and uses phenylphrine, a decongestant, as the active ingredient. Even with this new product, the original Sudafed can still be purchased at stores.

Despite the Alisal bust, the manufacturing of methamphetamine has not been as big a problem in Pleasanton as its wide spread use and sales, O'Neal said. Many of the labs busted by Pleasanton police are in other cities that were traced through sales in Pleasanton.

"We got a guy in Hayward who had 6 pounds of meth and a lot of his sales were in the Pleasanton area," O'Neal said. "They come out here because they can get more money. We found someone out in the Oakland and Stockton areas selling an ounce of crystal meth for $700. That same ounce of crystal meth would go for $1,100 in Pleasanton."

People using methamphetamine in Pleasanton also tend to be out-of-towners who came to Pleasanton to shop at the mall or go to Hacienda Crossings while on the drug, Saulsbury said.

Even as methamphetamine use increases, the laws for possession of synthetic drugs have weakened and are what O'Neal calls a "wobbler," meaning it can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. The wide spread use has actually lead to the weakening of the law due to the large numbers of people being charged with possession but with no where to put them in the prison system, O'Neal said.

Possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell is still a felony that carries a penalty of 16 months to three years in prison or five years felony probation and one year in county jail. Operating a lab is also a felony but carries a heavier penalty of three to five years in prison with the same probation option.

As for Hayes, his arraignment is scheduled for May 9. Dorrance has already been charged with possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to formal probation. Blackwell, who was arrested with a citation, is still waiting for her case to be reviewed.

Police officers are trained to recognize when a person is on methamphetamine and O'Neal nationally trains officers on the warning signs. Some indicators are dilated pupils, increased heart rate, involuntary bouncing of the eyes, rapid speech and teeth grinding. Since the drug speeds time for the user, one of the most effective tests police use is to have a person estimate 30 seconds. O'Neal had one user estimate as low as four seconds.

As with any drug, addiction is a consequence that can have serious health effects. Prolonged use of meth results in dramatic weight loss, a dulling of the hair and complexion, peculiar mouth movements, and face and hand sores from self-destructive picking, Hawkins said. O'Neal referred to this picking phenomenon as "cranker bugs" because the user feels like there are bugs underneath his skin and tries to pick them out. Addicts also suffer from paranoia, anxiety, and insomnia and may display violent behavior.

Generally, meth users tend to be between their 20s and 40s, and male, Saulsbury said, although there are users as young as 13 and as old as 60. In fact, Rick Eastman said he has seen a rise in the numbers of teens using meth since he started working at five years ago.

"I do know a lot more teens are getting into it now as school gets boring to them or they're too tired to do their assignments," he said. "They take a little to get an up and make it through the day."

Last year, 70 percent of the 120 teenagers and 60 percent of the 100 adults who received treatment at Axis were treated for meth addiction, Eastman said.

R-Quest saw fewer cases - 40 percent out of 100 last year - but Hawkins attributed this to the lack social networks encouraging users to get help.

"The thing is once you move to illegal use, you're hanging around a group who also uses, so you're less likely to seek help from an individual," Hawkins said. "They don't have a lot to lose because they're probably not working, their partner is probably also using and they're not afraid of the police because they have friends who have already gone through the punishment, instead of intervention, and are now back out using again."

It is not uncommon for meth users to also have an eating disorder, Hawkins said. Many times people who already have eating issues turn to meth as a way to lose weight since the drug causes a loss of appetite.

Both Axis and R-Quest are outpatient facilities based on the twelve-step philosophy and aid recovery with individual, group and family counseling.

While those suffering from addiction can get help at either facility, O'Neal and the rest of the Special Investigations Unit is out in the community looking to stop meth addiction at its source.

"Our major goal is to find the lab," O'Neal said. "We try to find where it's coming from because if we can stop the person making it, then we can stop it from spreading."
Street Names

Crystal Meth Speed Crank Ice Bikers Coffee Methlies Quick Chalk Poor Man's Cocaine Chicken Feed Shabu Stove Top Glass Trash Go-Fast Yellow Bam Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy
Methamphetamine timeline

1919 - Methamphetamine is discovered in Japan and is legally produced and sold in the U.S. under the trade name Desoxyn.
WWII - American and Japanese soldiers are given methamphetamine to increase and improve performance.
1950s - Methamphetamine is legally manufactured and sold as tablets under the name Methedrine. It becomes readily available and is used non-medically by college students, truck drivers, and athletes.
1960s - Injectable forms of methamphetamine are prohibited and illicit production increases. Legal use of the drug's ingestible forms continues and is minimally used to treat obesity, narcolepsy, Attention Deficit Disorder and bronchial problems.
1970 - Congress passes the U.S. Drug Abuse Regulation and Control Act of 1970 making all forms of methamphetamine illegal.
1980s - Smoked forms of methamphetamine increase in popularity.
1996 - Congress passes the Methamphetamine Control Act strengthening criminal penalties for possession, distribution and manufacturing.
1997 - Methamphetamine's popularity grows and overtakes Ecstasy as the "rave drug of choice."
2003 - The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that approximately 12.3 million Americans ages 12 and older said they tried methamphetamine at least once during their lifetimes, representing 5.2 percent of the population ages 12 and older.
Sources: Office of National Drug Control Policy, Cannabis Culture Magazine and Narconon International.
End the addiction

Methamphetamine addicts and their families and friends can get help in Pleasanton at either R-Quest or Axis Community Health Center.
Axis Community Health Center: Call 201-6240 to schedule an intake meeting.
R-Quest: Call 426-0501 and schedule an initial consultation. Family members are encouraged to come to this meeting to be part of the recovery process.

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