By JONATHAN BAGLEY
Methamphetamine 'cooks' in Utah are using the mini-meth lab to produce the drug, making arrests difficult for drug enforcement officers.
Methamphetamine is a white crystalline derivative of amphetamine -- a colorless, volatile liquid used to overcome depression, fatigue and to lessen the appetite in dieting -- but with a stronger stimulating action.
'It can be put in any kind of a multi-gallon picnic cooler,' said Curtis Fillmore, a supervisor in the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration offices in Salt Lake City.
'All they need is a heating source, a Coleman burner pipestove where there is propane, glassware and a strainer that they make out of a coffee filter to strain out the chemicals. Most of the labs we find could fit on a kitchen counter or a desk top easily,' Fillmore said.
Lt. Mark West of the Provo police department said the precursors of meth are easy to obtain. He said the recipe for the drug can be found on the Internet, and anyone that desires to make the drug will be able to.
Fillmore said the mini-meth labs are used only in Utah. He said Utahns are using the mini-meth lab because they use multiple ounce quantities, instead of multiple pound quantities.
Fillmore said the 'cooks' are using the labs for personal use. But, he said it would be a seller's market if the drug were to be sold.
'It seems to be taking over,' Fillmore said. 'It's not pushing cocaine completely out of the picture, but it seems to be the drug of choice among a lot of people now.'
Fillmore said the materials needed to manufacture meth can be bought at grocery stores. He said the drug is cheaper than cocaine, but not by thousands of dollars, and is becoming more popular than cocaine because the high from meth lasts longer.
West said making the drug creates danger for the user because of the chemicals involved.
'We've had two labs that have gone up in flames,' Fillmore said. 'One man burned himself and died in the hospital two weeks later. Up near the border two people set themselves on fire, but they survived it.
'Methamphetamines stimulate the central nervous system. They become rather hyper, it is hard for them to sit still. Those that are coming down off it we call 'tweakin'. They don't eat, they don't sleep and it's very hard for them to sit still and keep their mind on one topic.'
Fillmore said long-term meth users become emaciated. He said they develop abscesses and disregard their loved ones.
West said most of the users cannot afford methamphetamines without a form of income. He said more burglaries, thefts and robberies are being committed by users seeking to fund their habit.
Fillmore said the drug enforcement agency uses active investigations to catch meth cooks. He said they also discover the labs through reports of domestic abuse and traffic stops.
West said police receive tips from informants and citizens will report unusual activity.
The drug is not made by high school students, Fillmore said.
'They may be using crystal meth, but I haven't seen a lot of high schoolers manufacturing,' he said.