DEA: Flavored meth use on the rise

DEA: Flavored meth use on the rise

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-25-flavored-meth_N.htm
DEA: Flavored meth use on the rise

By Donna Leinwand,
USA TODAYMarch 26, 2007

Reports of candy-flavored methamphetamine are emerging around the nation, stirring concern among police and abuse prevention experts that drug dealers are marketing the drug to younger people.The flavored crystals are available in California, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Texas, New Mexico, Missouri and Minnesota, according to intelligence gathered by Drug Enforcement Administration agents from informants, users, local police and drug counselors, DEA spokesman Steve Robertson says."Drug traffickers are trying to lure in new customers, no matter what their age, by making the meth seem less dangerous," Robertson says.Methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant, is usually a white or brownish, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that dissolves in water. It is usually smoked or snorted.Among the new flavors are strawberry, known as "Strawberry Quick," chocolate, cola and other sodas, Robertson said. One agent reported a red methamphetamine that had been marketed as a powdered form of an energy drink, he said.A patrol officer who stopped a car on Feb. 13 in a rural area of Greene County, Mo., seized a bag of "strawberry meth" from a female passenger, says Capt. Randy Gibson of the Greene County Sheriff's Department. The seized drug had a slight strawberry smell to it, he said.Greene County deputies have seized colored meth before, Gibson says. Several years ago, blue methamphetamine, known as "Smurf dope" circulated in the area, Gibson said."It was nothing more than one of the local meth cooks taking a great deal of pride in his purity," Gibson says. "He ground up blue chalk to color it so he could market it as his."Carson City, Nev., Undersheriff Steve Albertson says dealers often try to make their meth distinctive with color or a catchy name as a way to brand it. "Then they'll spread the word that this meth, whatever color it is, is the best kind of meth there is," he said.The appearance of "Strawberry Quick" in Greene County came less than two weeks after the Nevada Department of Public Safety issued a bulletin about flavored methamphetamine seized during a Jan 27 apartment search in Carson City."It seems to have progressed very quickly from west to east," Gibson says."Strawberry Quick," the bulletin said, "is popular among new users who snort it because the flavoring can cut down on the taste. Teenagers who have been taught meth is bad may see this flavored version as less harmful. 'Strawberry Quick' is designed for the younger crowd."As methamphetamine's popularity has waned, drug dealers have to create new ways to market it, says Scott Burns, deputy drug czar for state, local and tribal affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The number of people 12 and older who used methamphetamine for the first time in the previous year decreased from 318,000 people in 2004 to 192,000 people in 2005, according the National Survey on Drug Use and Health by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration."The traffickers know the word is out about what a horrible drug this is," Burns says."They are having a tough time selling this product, especially to young people. What do people in marketing do when they have a tough time selling a product? They have to come up with some sort of gimmick."