METH CRISIS ADDRESSED BY SUPERVISORS DRUG'S POPULARITY CONTINUES TO GROW.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

Calling methamphetamine abuse a problem of ``epidemic'' proportions, the county Board of Supervisors is looking for solutions.

The board's action comes as authorities nationwide try to counter meth's growing popularity, and as meth-related arrests soar in Los Angeles and the Antelope Valley.

An addictive drug that can cause psychotic episodes and help spread sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV by impairing users' judgment, meth is a psychostimulant used for both a euphoria rush and an energy boost.

The Antelope Valley was a hotbed of meth production until new laws made it harder to get over-the-counter cold medicine used for the ingredients that can be extracted from it. Production has since shifted to giant illegal labs in Mexico.

But the drug has made new inroads, attracting users from a variety of backgrounds.

``What has happened throughout the country is that it's moving from rural areas or suburban areas into inner cities,'' said county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who represents South Los Angeles.

The Board of Supervisors has asked county officials to work on new ways to prevent meth abuse and treat users. Despite limited data, supervisors are already saying the problem is serious, especially among gay and bisexual men.

``While the meth epidemic is present across the population, specific segments of the population have acutely been affected by meth use,'' according to the motion adopted last week by the Board of Supervisors.

Officials are especially concerned about ``crystal'' meth, a more potent form of methamphetamine that looks like a glassy rock.

A 2004 county health survey found that 26 percent of the 181 gay and bisexual men who reported being HIV positive also said they had used crystal meth. And among the 17 Latino gay and bisexual men who were diagnosed with HIV as part of the survey, 10 of them had used crystal meth in the past 12 months.

Part of the goal of the supervisors' initiative is to find out more about meth abuse in the county.

Meanwhile, Burke is concerned that meth is being sold at schoolyards.

``I have to be very honest, that some of the people who are peddling meth are preying on young girls and putting them into prostitution, and they're doing this through schools,'' she said.

The county already funds a number of treatment centers, including Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center in Castaic, High Desert Recovery Services and Acton Rehabilitation Center.

Rico Cruz, associate administrator at Warm Springs, said about half the drug abusers who come to his 199-bed center have used crystal meth.

``I've seen people go into substance abuse psychosis, psychotic episodes just from messing with that crystal meth for a few days,'' Cruz said.

Earlier this year, the nationwide rehab organization Phoenix House reported an increasing number of teens admitted to Southern California treatment centers were hooked on meth. More than 43 percent of those seeking treatment in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties came in for meth abuse, compared to 25 percent in 2002.

In the Antelope Valley, sheriff's officials report that the number of meth-related arrests rose from 727 in 2002 to 1,186 last year. Seizures of meth in the valley went from four kilos in 2002 to seven kilos in 2005.

Much of the meth seized last year might have come from Mexico, since authorities have busted fewer labs in the Antelope Valley now that production has shifted to Mexico. Before authorities and retailers moved to make cold medicines containing pseudoephredrine harder to obtain, meth labs in the Antelope Valley would use the medicine to ``cook'' their product.

Part of the appeal of meth for users had been that the drug can be ``cooked'' at home with easy-to-obtain ingredients, although the process turned former meth labs into toxic sites.

Meth, which is also known as speed, and the related drug amphetamines have been around for decades. But in the 1950s and 1960s, it was common for speed users to pop pills illegally obtained from pharmacy counters, instead of home-brewing the stuff.

Health officials say the high from the old speed pills would last several hours, compared to 36 hours with meth.

``It's well beyond anything that I've ever heard of previously,'' said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who joined Burke in backing the anti-meth motion last week.

Among gay men, meth is used to prolong the sex drive, and county officials believe meth use is high among those who frequent sex clubs. Gay community leaders have worried that past educational initiatives to reduce the spread of HIV infection are being ignored by younger generations.

The supervisors voted to address the meth problem by a 3-0 vote at Tuesday's board meeting, with supervisors Michael D. Antonovich and Gloria Molina absent. Health officials will report back in three months on prevention and intervention solutions.

But Yaroslavsky and Burke already have some ideas about how to deal with the problem, and education is high on the list.

``We know that education has an impact and you can't let up,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``Chevrolet doesn't stop advertising after a good year, and Coca-Cola keeps advertising. And if we want to do it, we've got to keep doing it every year, not just in odd years or even years.''

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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