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Meth still an issue, though number of labs down, Bascue says
Published 8/27/2009 in Local News
By RACHAEL GRAY
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment's decision to end its clandestine methamphetamine lab cleanup program shouldn't hinder Finney County's ability to clean up meth labs, that is if there are any left, Finney County Sheriff Kevin Bascue said Tuesday.
Bascue said the number of meth labs found in Finney County has greatly decreased since 2005. Between 2004 and 2005, 11 meth labs were found in Finney County, and in 2008 two were found. But even with the number of labs decreasing, the distribution of methamphetamine still is prevalent, he said.
The KDHE eliminated its cleanup program after state budget cuts last month. The lab cleanup fell under KDHE's Chemical Control Act put into effect July 1, 1999, in an effort to initiate, educate and notify chemical cleanup programs associated with meth labs.
If Finney County finds a meth lab, it has plenty of resources to work the scene through specialization of officers and equipment. But the expensive part comes in the lab cleanup, Bascue said. The county must call on the Drug Enforcement Adminstration to administer the proper chemicals needed to clean up the lab.
"They have the resources to do that," he said. Bascue said the DEA team comes in from several different locations, including Oklahoma, but aren't called upon often, especially now, with fewer meth labs being found.
Since the state started targeting the sale of individual meth ingredients in common cold medicines, Bascue said, people have changed the ways in which they make the product. In 2005, the Sheriff Matt Samuels Act made pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, two key ingredients in meth, only available from behind the pharmacy counter in order to track large purchases of medicines containing those ingredients.
Bascue said most of the labs found in Kansas in 2005 were for personal use.
After Kansas regulated the ingredients, Jeff Steele, sergeant of investigations, said large quantities of methamphetamine began to arrive from across the Mexican border.
"Across the border you've got the superlabs that can produce at a faster rate," Bascue said.
He said most quantities of methamphetamine make it across U.S. and state borders through private vehicles. He said some may come through commercial trucks, trains and buses, usually from Mexico or California.
"If it moves, someone's going to be using it to transport drugs," he said.
Steele said the price got higher for methamphetamine, but it hasn't deterred usage of the drug. The price of cocaine, for example, is about $130 for an 8-ball, or 3.4 to 3.5 grams. For meth arriving from Mexico, the price for an 8-ball is $290 to $450. Cocaine used to be more expensive than meth 10 years ago. The drug of choice was cocaine, Steele said.
"People made the switch from cocaine to meth because that high from cocaine lasts 10 to 15 minutes. With meth, you get three to four hours," Steele said. Even with the high price, Steele said, people are willing to pay for the sustained high.
The Associated Press this week reported a new formula for making meth is on the rise. The recipe includes a two-liter soda bottle, a few handfuls of cold pills and some noxious chemicals. The ingredients are put into bottles, shaken and methamphetamine is made. The method is called the "shake and bake method."
Bascue said the sheriff's office hasn't seen any of the new meth formula in Finney County.
"But that doesn't mean it's not there," he said.
On the Web:
Finney County Sheriff's Office: http://www.finneycounty.org/index.aspx?NID=81
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