By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency oversees a little known program they called “Meth Watch.” The idea is for local stores and pharmacies to be on the lookout for people who might be buying cold medicines and other ingredients with plans to produce methamphetamine.

Some stores have taken to putting certain medicines behind the counter. Others will ask for identification when someone is buying more than a few boxes or bottles. The problem, according to MDEA Supervisor Gerry Baril, is that meth manufacturers are taking pains to avoid drawing attention to themselves as they gather supplies for their drug operations.

“They’re going out in little groups and buying a few boxes at a time,” Baril said.

Meth is made from the most innocuous ingredients. Over-the-counter cold and asthma medications that contain ephedrine are most popular with the mom and pop style operators of a meth lab.

Meth producers are also known to use other easily obtained chemicals, such as drain cleaner, battery acid, lye, lantern fuel and antifreeze, while manufacturing batches of the drug.

Investigators say meth cooks around the country are eagerly teaching others how to make the drug. A new manufacturer can get started with an investment of just a few hundred dollars and produce thousands of dollars worth of the drug with the most basic supplies. According to the Koch Crime Institute’s anti-meth Web site, literally thousands of recipes for meth cooking exist on the Internet.

The result is a nightmare scenario for police and others. One of the world’s most addictive drugs is mass produced through a means that presents a constant threat of fire, explosion or deadly fumes. Users are known to be paranoid, often laying traps around their home labs to thwart police, burglars or rivals.

In Maine, meth typically sells for roughly $200 a gram, drug officials say. Users either smoke, inject or swallow it. A high will last two to four hours, compared to the 10 or 15 minute buzz that comes with crack.

Medical experts say long-term use of the drug changes the composition of the brain, resulting in homicidal or suicidal behavior. Meth users are also known to steal or become involved in other crimes to support their habit.

“You steal, you deal, you do what you have to do,” Baril said.

Locally, Baril helps to train agents in the investigation of clandestine meth labs. Two of his former agents, Lewiston police Officer Matt Cashman and Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Slivinski, were called upon to use that training Wednesday when they were asked to don protective suits and enter the Sabattus Street apartment.

Baril said it is important that the officers’ respective departments allow them to continue working on meth cases when they arise because there will likely be more in the future. He and others insist it is not a matter of whether or not meth will start making a stronger presence in Maine, it is a matter of when.

Trends show popularity of the drug sweeping from Midwestern states. Whether meth is powerful enough to unseat crack cocaine, the drug of choice in the Lewiston-Auburn area for decades, remains to be seen.

“The meth problem is here and it’s not going away,” Baril said. “We’re just biding our time to see if the crack users will make the transition.”

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