The number of methamphetamine labs discovered by police in the metro region jumped from less than a dozen to more than 10 times that in less than six years, experts told officials Wednesday.
The officials — regional politicians, law enforcement and drug treatment professionals — were meeting to identify strategies to combat the growing use of methamphetamines in the area.
“The flame is moving east and they better be digging ditches and clearing, because the fire is going to get here,” said James Copple, a principal and senior policy analyst for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.
Copple said police found a total of 10 meth labs in the region in 1999. In 2005, there were 120.
Methamphetamine, or crystal meth, has caused major problems in the Midwest and is beginning to show up in the rural areas of Virginia and Maryland. The illegal and highly addictive stimulant is used by all segments of the population, but in urban areas like the District, use is rising in the gay community, he said.
Two active meth labs have been disassembled in Manassas and five major distributors taken off the streets of Prince William County since 2004, said Detective Gary VanDyke, with the county police and the DEA’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force. VanDyke could not comment on current cases.
“One main reason why seizure of labs hasn’t gone up is because most of it is getting imported into the area,” said VanDyke, who added that meth can come in a crystal power, icy-looking rock and pill form.
“It is not the drug of choice, but we are seeing more than we saw a year ago and a lot more than two years ago,” said Maj. Ray Colgen with Prince William County police.
In the 1980s, the crack epidemic strained unprepared local governments’ budgets by filling jails and treatment programs and leaving children in need of foster care, said Dave Robertson.
The conference was aimed at exploring “how we can get ahead of the issue.”
Prince William County already has been working to train all county employees, from first responders to building inspectors and landfill workers, to identify the volatile labs and the surrounding issues, Colgen said.
Robertson said regional leaders in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments are expected to further discuss the issue in July, including how to make laws consistent throughout the metropolitan area, such as those regarding over-the-counter drug sales, he said.
Meth Facts
» Effects of usage include addiction, psychotic behavior and brain damage.
» Can be injected, snorted, smoked or taken as a pill.
» In 2000, 4 percent of the U.S. population reported using meth at least once.
Source: U.S. DEA
