A 2005 state law designed to make methamphetamine manufacturing more difficult led to a decrease in local meth activity, but local authorities are concerned that meth-cookers may be on the rise once more.
State Senate Bill 63, which took effect in June 2005, prohibited the over-the-counter sale of medications containing pseudoephedrine in tablet form.
State police reported an immediate drop in meth lab investigations, from 84 in April 2005, before the bill’s adoption, to only 12 that September.
But that trend may be reversing.
Sheriff Stan Hudson reported in January an increase in the thefts of anhydrous ammonia, a farm chemical that is a key ingredient in one method of meth manufacturing.
Now, he said, deputies are also noticing more debris believed to be related to meth production.
“Here lately, within the last six months to a year, we’ve seen an increase in the components in trash found around,” he said.
Starter fluid cans, plastic tubing, stained coffee filters and other items found discarded together could indicate the presence of a meth operation, or the remnants of one.
“If people find that, that’s helpful to us, especially if it’s on somebody’s property that’s doing it. Then we can obtain search warrants,” the sheriff said.
Since 2000, he added, law enforcement units around the country are seeing the age of meth users dropping.
“We’re seeing younger people using now,” the sheriff told a crowd of Caldwell County High School students at a Champions Against Drugs assembly Monday.
“I’d say 13-to-14-year-olds are using meth now, and the percentage has gone up tremendously among the younger generation.”
Those young people are not believed to be manufacturing the drugs themselves, he said, but buying from other people.
Presenting information to local students about the drug’s dangers is a tradition the sheriff tries to do annually. “I think education, being proactive, is the key,” he said.
Monday’s session, dealing with the nature of methamphetamine and its prevalance, was only the first half of the presentation. The second half, dealing with the drug’s effects and consequences, is scheduled in May.
