By Sara Strong
Rock County had another chance for drug education Monday night as the city of Luverne and Parents: The Anti Drug and Violence Task Force hosted an experienced speaker.
Kurt Rothwell is the safety director for the southwest region of the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association. He works with the city of Luverne regularly, and the city asked him to return to speak to the general public.
He outlined some of the signs of drug use, especially methamphetamine, but emphasized that families should look at all substances they use as examples for their children, including cigarettes and alcohol.
“I think marijuana is more prevalent. And if you're using chemicals in your home, if you're popping pills every day, chances are, the kids will too. How do you expect them not to?” Rothwell said.
In his capacity as a safety director, he is constantly researching and keeping up with news.
Rothwell pointed to meth lab seizures peaking in the late 1990s. “For every one that's caught, there’s five to 10 still out there. They’re not as easy to catch. The drug makers are getting smarter.”
Many of the labs that are stopped are the smaller scale ones, with many large-scale meth production labs still operating in Mexico and on the west coast of the United States.
Just last month in St. Paul, one couple had what Rothwell called a “mom and pop” operation in a trailer house. In that bust, 20 pounds of meth were seized. That amount of the drug was worth 90,800 doses.
To watch for
The base of methamphetamine is always some form of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The rest of the chemicals react to it and form what's known as meth - or speed, ice, crystal and various street names for the drug.
Some of the solvents and reactors used in “cooking” meth include: lantern fuel, drain cleaner, battery acid, sulfuric and muriatic acid. Salt is also used in the production during cooking.
Rothwell said, “It's like making cookies. Instead of putting in chocolate chips, you want a little something else, but that little something sure changes the cookie. Buyers never know the ingredients they're getting.”
Some ammonia gasses can freeze lungs when inhaled; other chemicals cause explosions.
Rothwell cautions roadside cleaning crews or volunteer groups against touching unlabeled containers or almost anything they find other than standard trash along the road. In drug production, chemicals are stored in inappropriate containers and erode and leak or create what would essentially be a bomb because of the explosive nature of the contents.
“This is a very dirty drug,” Rothwell said. For every pound of meth created, six pounds of garbage is also created in the process.
Common in meth users is tuberculosis, cholera, herpes, hepatitis and AIDS.
Trash and byproducts are also a part of meth use that affects more than just the users. Paranoid delusions or fear of being caught as a manufacturer often mean cookers stockpile garbage and cause problems community-wide.
Rothwell said that drug manufacturers are getting more and more clever in their ingredients. They split up into groups to purchase things such as matches (for the red phosphorus) cold medicine, diet pills, lithium batteries and Epson salt. Buying most of these ingredients doesn't cause alarm unless it's in huge quantities.
Other signs of a drug lab are various containers of liquid or white powder, filters, tubes, jars, pressure cookers, hot plates, kettles and filters.
Rothwell said the best sign of meth manufacturing is ephedrine, because that’s always the base, no matter what’s mixed with it.
“They can make it different every time,” Rothwell said. “Some will make you sweat, some will make you smell. What are they made of? I don't know.”
How they make it is usually spread word of mouth in drug circles, but books and the Internet are also sources.
The typical cooker is hard to pinpoint. Sometimes young children get involved in manufacturing it; chemistry majors in college sometimes do and so do older burnouts. “There's a wide range,” Rothwell said.
Personal effects
Trees growing near meth labs sometimes die. Fires started by the chemical mixtures can't be extinguished with water. That said, Rothwell explained what using the drug can do to its users.
If meth users aren't victims of explosions, fires or frozen lungs during manufacturing, they still suffer the consequences of using.
Rothwell compares the effects of meth to cocaine, but stronger.
Pupils dilate, blood pressure rises. Hallucinations and delusions are common, especially when coming off a high, so another high is needed.
Meth users lose bone mass (and often lose teeth) and are further damaged internally by not eating because of a diminished appetite. Their skin feels like bugs are crawling on it and they swat and scratch at themselves until varying degrees of sores are visible.
Depression can be a side effect of coming off a high and suicide isn't uncommon.
The paranoia associated with meth use sometimes means users are rigging labs to explode if people enter. Users and cookers often carry weapons to protect themselves.
Rothwell suggests keeping a distance from known users. He said to avoid shining bright light on meth users because their dilated pupils can’t handle the brightness. Rothwell also said to speak in a slow, low voice and move slowly around people suspected of being high on meth. Also, keep hands visible.
Although meth is getting a lot of attention now, it is the same drug that was prevalent in the 70s. Younger users, though, become addicts faster than adults and that’s the concern of the task force.
Next Parents meeting
The next meeting of Parents: The Anti Drug and Violence Task Force is 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Pizza Ranch, Luverne. Lila Bauer wanted to remind people that the group is open to anyone.