poledriver
Bluelighter
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- Jul 21, 2005
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Meth scourge is growing
On television's "Breaking Bad," crystal meth turns a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, into a paranoid, murderous multimillionaire.
In the real world of Bridgeport, it allegedly turned a charismatic potential Catholic bishop, Monsignor Kevin Wallin, into a twitching, hyperkinetic addict and cellphone-juggling drug dealer,
according to court documents and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Caruso.
On the street, crystal methamphetamine is called crank, ice and glass.
But in federal court, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith called the growing problem with the drug in the Northeast a "dirty bomb" unleashed like plutonium on an unaware society.
"It's creeping eastward from California," Smith has warned.
To Dr. Gary Blick, a Norwalk HIV/AIDS specialist and internist, that's an understatement.
"It's already here in full force and not going away," Blick said.
Since July, the State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force has seized 6,391 grams of meth, about 14 pounds. Most came from the Wallin case.
That represents a marked increased from the 154 grams, or roughly five ounces, the task force seized the previous fiscal year.
Another 30 pounds, or $4.2 million worth of meth, was seized from a car by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Massachusetts State Police in December.
State Police Capt. Dale Hourigan, head of the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, said he has been advised by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that crystal meth is being manufactured in pill form and distributed as Ecstasy,
a popular club drug.
These revelations, along with the latest task force intelligence, tell Hourigan that Connecticut has a large customer base.
To help get the word out on what he sees as a growing contagion, Hourigan has directed Wayne Kowal, his training-program coordinator, to compile a bulletin for local police.
Kowal also is available to talk to parent and professional groups about crystal meth and other drugs in an effort to head off the scourge.
Feel-good drug
Crystal meth use is not just endemic to the seamy, criminal underworld. It spans all of middle America -- bored housewives looking for kicks, upwardly mobile businessmen who crave its chemical energy and naive,
experimenting teens. Even ordained priests are not immune to its seduction.
Celebrities charged in connection with methamphetamine possession included rock star Eddie Van Halen, singer Fergie, figure skater Nicole Bobek and evangelist Ted Haggard.
As state police are discovering, meth poses a big problem in the homosexual and bisexual community -- which Blick treats.
"This is a feel-good drug," Blick said. "It's inexpensive, it takes away inhibitions and its effects last for hours. So you want to use it over and over and over again."
But don't expect to find it being sold on street corners like crack and heroin. Interviews with users confirm that it's available in sex clubs, online bulletin boards and in social networks.
"When I was addicted, five or six years ago, I had to search far and wide," said a local meth addict -- now in rehabilitation -- who asked for anonymity because of the stigma of being a former drug user.
"Now it's within 10-minutes access."
The drug suppresses appetite, often leading to weight loss and a gaunt, wasted appearance. But it can increase concentration and focus, and reduce the need for sleep.
So for the soccer mom, that means "getting up, getting the kids to school, going to the gym, doing the laundry, driving the kids to after-school activities and having dinner on the table all by 6 p.m.," Frank said.
Travis Wendel, a senior research associate in the anthropology department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, helped author a 2011 research report titled "Dynamics of Methamphetamine Markets in New York City."
Most of the participants interviewed reported the drug enhances sex, reduces pain and helps them cope.
The study estimated there were about 63,000 meth users spending roughly $640 million on the drug in the New York City market alone.
"The salient point to make here is that with increased production, wider availability in the U.S. and lower market prices, methamphetamine use will likely rise in the U.S. in the next few years," the report concluded.
But Blick and Frank see a bigger concern, increasing HIV infections in younger men.
Blick said the drug's inhibition-reducing effect causes HIV-positive users to discontinue medical drug regimens that arrest the virus and reduce the risk of transfer.
"So they go into clubs and have unsafe sex."
"I'm absolutely positive that the introduction of crystal meth into the men-having-sex-with-men community has sent HIV infections soaring," the doctor said.
"People on crystal meth don't care about themselves. They don't care about their partners. Their only care is getting high."
Meth 101
The drug in its methamphetamine form was synthesized in 1893. During World War II, both sides used it to fight fatigue and suppress appetite in military personnel. Nowadays,
it's only two FDA approved uses are to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, where low, time-released doses increase concentration and to help manage obesity.
By the 1960s, outlaw motorcycle gangs discovered it was a tremendous money maker, and began producing it using household chemicals. A $150 investment in cold tablets, aquarium tubing, matches, household cleaners and battery acid could produce a $10,000 profit.
Cont -
Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Meth-scourge-is-growing-4380982.php#ixzz2OicNYPcI
On television's "Breaking Bad," crystal meth turns a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, into a paranoid, murderous multimillionaire.
In the real world of Bridgeport, it allegedly turned a charismatic potential Catholic bishop, Monsignor Kevin Wallin, into a twitching, hyperkinetic addict and cellphone-juggling drug dealer,
according to court documents and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Caruso.
On the street, crystal methamphetamine is called crank, ice and glass.
But in federal court, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith called the growing problem with the drug in the Northeast a "dirty bomb" unleashed like plutonium on an unaware society.
"It's creeping eastward from California," Smith has warned.
To Dr. Gary Blick, a Norwalk HIV/AIDS specialist and internist, that's an understatement.
"It's already here in full force and not going away," Blick said.
Since July, the State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force has seized 6,391 grams of meth, about 14 pounds. Most came from the Wallin case.
That represents a marked increased from the 154 grams, or roughly five ounces, the task force seized the previous fiscal year.
Another 30 pounds, or $4.2 million worth of meth, was seized from a car by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Massachusetts State Police in December.
State Police Capt. Dale Hourigan, head of the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, said he has been advised by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that crystal meth is being manufactured in pill form and distributed as Ecstasy,
a popular club drug.
These revelations, along with the latest task force intelligence, tell Hourigan that Connecticut has a large customer base.
To help get the word out on what he sees as a growing contagion, Hourigan has directed Wayne Kowal, his training-program coordinator, to compile a bulletin for local police.
Kowal also is available to talk to parent and professional groups about crystal meth and other drugs in an effort to head off the scourge.
Feel-good drug
Crystal meth use is not just endemic to the seamy, criminal underworld. It spans all of middle America -- bored housewives looking for kicks, upwardly mobile businessmen who crave its chemical energy and naive,
experimenting teens. Even ordained priests are not immune to its seduction.
Celebrities charged in connection with methamphetamine possession included rock star Eddie Van Halen, singer Fergie, figure skater Nicole Bobek and evangelist Ted Haggard.
As state police are discovering, meth poses a big problem in the homosexual and bisexual community -- which Blick treats.
"This is a feel-good drug," Blick said. "It's inexpensive, it takes away inhibitions and its effects last for hours. So you want to use it over and over and over again."
But don't expect to find it being sold on street corners like crack and heroin. Interviews with users confirm that it's available in sex clubs, online bulletin boards and in social networks.
"When I was addicted, five or six years ago, I had to search far and wide," said a local meth addict -- now in rehabilitation -- who asked for anonymity because of the stigma of being a former drug user.
"Now it's within 10-minutes access."
The drug suppresses appetite, often leading to weight loss and a gaunt, wasted appearance. But it can increase concentration and focus, and reduce the need for sleep.
So for the soccer mom, that means "getting up, getting the kids to school, going to the gym, doing the laundry, driving the kids to after-school activities and having dinner on the table all by 6 p.m.," Frank said.
Travis Wendel, a senior research associate in the anthropology department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, helped author a 2011 research report titled "Dynamics of Methamphetamine Markets in New York City."
Most of the participants interviewed reported the drug enhances sex, reduces pain and helps them cope.
The study estimated there were about 63,000 meth users spending roughly $640 million on the drug in the New York City market alone.
"The salient point to make here is that with increased production, wider availability in the U.S. and lower market prices, methamphetamine use will likely rise in the U.S. in the next few years," the report concluded.
But Blick and Frank see a bigger concern, increasing HIV infections in younger men.
Blick said the drug's inhibition-reducing effect causes HIV-positive users to discontinue medical drug regimens that arrest the virus and reduce the risk of transfer.
"So they go into clubs and have unsafe sex."
"I'm absolutely positive that the introduction of crystal meth into the men-having-sex-with-men community has sent HIV infections soaring," the doctor said.
"People on crystal meth don't care about themselves. They don't care about their partners. Their only care is getting high."
Meth 101
The drug in its methamphetamine form was synthesized in 1893. During World War II, both sides used it to fight fatigue and suppress appetite in military personnel. Nowadays,
it's only two FDA approved uses are to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, where low, time-released doses increase concentration and to help manage obesity.
By the 1960s, outlaw motorcycle gangs discovered it was a tremendous money maker, and began producing it using household chemicals. A $150 investment in cold tablets, aquarium tubing, matches, household cleaners and battery acid could produce a $10,000 profit.
Cont -
Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Meth-scourge-is-growing-4380982.php#ixzz2OicNYPcI