Struggling with Meth

Property crimes, paranoia, hallucinations and death are the primary signs and symptoms of methamphetamine use in a community.

According to local law enforcement officers, Klamath Falls and the county at large still struggles with this dangerous drug despite the legislation enacted to slow down its production in Oregon.

“Methamphetamine seems to be the one we’re seeing the most,” said Klamath Falls Police Detective Jack Daniel. “We’re seeing a slight influx of heroin as well as a larger influx of prescription medication use.”

A highly addictive drug that stimulates the body’s central nervous system, meth is swallowed, snorted, injected or smoked by users. It can come in pill, powder or “crystal” forms, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Meth has been identified as a problem not just in the local area but across the state. According to a report released Thursday by the Office of the Oregon State Medical Examiner, meth accounted for the most drug-related deaths statewide in 2013.

The report states meth was involved in 123 deaths last year (a 32 percent increase from 2012’s numbers), while heroin accounted for 111 deaths and cocaine was at 12 fatalities. Locally, two deaths were attributed to methamphetamine in Klamath County last year.

Lake County statistics were not available as the report only detailed areas where drug-related deaths were reported.

Crime correlations

In Klamath Falls, many of the reported thefts and burglaries are eventually tied to meth and other narcotics users, according to Detective Daniel. He said the property crimes are usually committed so addicts can get their hands on expensive electronics and other items they trade with their dealers for the next fix.

“Many of those are committed by those low-level, day to day narcotics users,” Daniel said. “A very, very, very high percentage of the property crimes committed in this county are committed by narcotics users.”

For two years Daniel worked on a special KFPD street crimes unit. He said essentially every property crime he worked, the suspect identified was motivated by addiction to meth or another drug.

“There’s a high level of poverty here, a high level of unemployment. That usually correlates with criminal acts and narcotics use.”

An imported business

While certain precursor chemicals used in meth manufacturing have become harder to obtain in the past decade, the drug still finds its way into Oregon via active smuggling operations out of California and Mexico.

Since 2006, Oregon has regulated the sale of pseudoephedrine, a common non-prescription medication sometimes utilized in meth recipes. It used to be stocked openly on pharmacy shelves. Now it is stashed behind the counter, which seems to have had an impact on the number of domestic meth labs in Oregon.

Since 2004, the number of labs has decreased drastically, according the DEA. In 2004, 632 clandestine labs were found statewide. In 2012, only nine were located.

Sgt. Walt Markee, with the Oregon State Police’s (OSP) Drug Enforcement Section in Salem, said meth-related labs are still out there but their nature has changed. Instead of making the drug from scratch, the conversion labs take unfinished product smuggled in from elsewhere and turn it into useable methamphetamine.

“It’s a newer trend,” Markee said. “We used to get hundreds of (traditional labs) in a year. There are some labs, and they could come back.”

“We’re seeing more meth than we’ve ever seen, it’s continued to go up every year … for the most part it’s smuggled across the border into the U.S. from Mexico.”

Daniel said organized criminal groups across the border seem to be responsible for the influx of meth into the country.

“Most methamphetamine operations are ultimately sourced to cartels,” Daniel said. “We don’t have the amount of methamphetamine manufacturing in the U.S. anymore since pseudoephedrine has been controlled, so the amount of labs that we used to see are no longer here. So methamphetamine is often made by cartel-controlled operations.”

The systems put in place by the cartels include suppliers for various areas. From the suppliers, the product is handed out to dealers, who sell or trade small amounts of methamphetamine to users. Daniel said multiple subsidiary organizations or businesses could be involved in a cartel’s operation.

“Nationwide, the model is to invest in businesses that are cash-only, that way there’s a limited paper trail, and that money obviously gets laundered and disseminated.”

Possible solutions

Budget cuts have hit efforts to combat narcotics and property crimes throughout the area. Daniel said a major blow came when the Klamath Interagency Narcotics Team (KINT) was cut in 2008.

“Klamath County has been without a dedicated drug team for many years. I would say during its heyday eight years ago, it was a very effective policing tool and did many major cases.”

The best path forward for curbing methamphetamine abuse and overdose deaths is to have a dedicated multi-agency unit on the street dealing with property and narcotics crimes, Daniel said.

“There are currently no dedicated city police assets, nor countywide … that is working exclusively drugs and property crimes.”

[email protected]; @HieglerHN