Law enforcement finding less meth labs, more heroine - Tahlequah Daily Press
Law enforcement officials said they are discovering fewer meth labs while reportedly seeing more heroin and fentanyl in the area.
Cherokee County Sheriff Jason Chennault said investigators used to bust about two meth labs a week, but that was 10 years ago.
"We haven't seen any meth labs in quite a while here and that means someone is making it somewhere else and bringing it in, and it's been that way for several years now," said Chennault.
The sheriff said meth labs were common back then and he believes those are uncommon due to the Legislature making it more difficult for people to obtain ingredients such as Sudafed.
"That was probably 10 or 12 years ago when we started seeing a decline in our local labs. There for awhile, it seemed like we were having several a week that we were either doing search warrants on or finding them abandoned," he said.
Methamphetamine is highly addictive and is a drug that affects the central nervous system. It can come in a variety of forms: powder, crystal, rocks or tablets and it can be taken by swallowing, smoking, snorting or injecting with a hypodermic needle.
Cooking meth in a lab doesn't require chemistry equipment and some say it's relatively easy to cook.
Those who use meth typically experience a burst of energy and alertness and a decrease in appetite. The long-term affects of using meth are violent rages, mood disturbances and they may become paranoid while hallucinating.
Chennault said they are seeing the same people getting arrested multiple times for being in possession of meth, or being out in public while high on meth.
"It'll be the same problem now that it's a misdemeanor and it'll be the same people we're arresting for it," he said.
Chennault is referring to when the law changed in Oklahoma to where the first offense of possession - including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine or heroin - is a misdemeanor. Subsequent offenses for possession are still misdemeanors.
Hypothetically, if someone is arrested for a small amount of meth 10 different times, he can only be charged with a misdemeanor each time. Methamphetamine is a Schedule 2 drug, and an officer can arrest people if any amount of the drug - even traces or residue amounts - is found in their possession.
Despite the lack of existing meth labs, Chennault said the drug is still an issue in the county as well as heroin and fentanyl.
"From what we see, it looks to us like it's being brought in from out of the county and out of the state. "Heroin and fentanyl seem to be the new thing now," said Chennault.
Investigator Pete Broderick said it's a felony offense for someone to be in possession of fentanyl.
Broderick said he sees more heroin "cut," or mixed, with fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine, but can be 100 times more potent.
It can cause respiratory distress or death if taken in high doses, or combined with other substances, especially alcohol.
"A lot of times when you see fentanyl with anything now, it's a cutting agent. They're using it on top of the heroin or on top of the meth. A heroin user will spice it up with fentanyl to get that higher of a high and that's what we're seeing," said Broderick.
Tahlequah Police Capt. Steve Arnall said every drug arrest officers conduct goes through him as the meth is submitted into evidence.
"The amounts aren't just huge and I'm not down playing it, but it's there; it's just not in the huge quantities," said Arnall.
source: https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/law-enforcement-finding-less-meth-labs-more-heroine/article_b6cfcb17-68ef-5134-b752-28fce58e5459.html
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