Successes in the battle against methamphetamine have opened the door to imports from Canada, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday.
"We've won battles against meth in upstate New York, but we haven't won the war," Schumer said. "We want to make sure that declines in local production are not matched by an increase in local importation."
Schumer is proposing a three-part plan designed to continue the fight against meth, which is primarily manufactured in clandestine labs and mostly in rural and suburban areas.
Shifting Drug Enforcement Agency personnel to the New York-Canadian border, better tracking of base ingredients of meth and more education on the dangers can build on the success of previous legislation and enforcement, Schumer said.
Otsego County is ranked fourth among 55 counties north of New York City for the number of meth-lab seizures and other meth production-related incidents since 1999, according to the New York State Intelligence Center.
However, Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl said, meth production has been dampened by new legislation, as well as tough law enforcement.
Just one meth lab has been found in the county this year. That lab was not in operation, but it had the components to be operational, Muehl said.
"It's slowly, but steadily, decreasing," he said.
Crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin and prescription pills are bigger problems, he said.
Recent efforts to curb methamphetamine use, including the Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2006, have been largely successful, Schumer said.
Under that act, it is illegal to purchase more than 9 grams of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine in a 30-day period. The drugs are commonly found in cold, cough and allergy medicines, and are a primary ingredient of methamphetamine. A standard package of Sudafed has 1.4 grams of pseudoephedrine in 48 tablets, according to the product's label.
Clandestine labs manufacture meth by using ephedrine or pseudophedrine as the base ingredients.
Although meth production in New York state is apparently declining, its use is still a concern, Schumer said in a conference call with reporters.
One reason for this is that meth smuggled into the state from Canada, which does not have strict laws governing meth ingredients, is supplanting local production, Schumer said.
Methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, crank, ice and dozens of other street names, produces a short rush when the drug is initially administered and a sense of well-being that can last up to 12 hours, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
When the highly addictive drug wears off, users may suffer from fatigue, anxiety, paranoia and aggression, according to the office.
Det. Sgt. Jeff Jump coordinates the drug enforcement activity of the Oneonta Police Department and agreed with Muehl that meth is not the leading drug problem in the county.
Jump said he also believes the Combat Methamphetamine Act and tough enforcement were why meth labs may be diminishing in the area.
Meth use starts innocently, Schumer said.
But when addiction takes hold, meth users will often go three or four days without sleep and suffer a disconnect from the world around them, he said.
"It really hurts people and the people that use it hurt other people," Schumer said.
Det. Sgt. Jeff Jump coordinates the drug enforcement activity of the Oneonta Police Department and agreed with Muehl that meth is not the leading drug problem in the county.
"I haven't seen finished (meth) product in a year at least," Jump said. "Heroin and illegal prescription drug use has increased dramatically."
Jump said he also believes the Combat Methamphetamine Act and tough enforcement were why meth labs may be diminishing in the area.
"It continues to plague our rural towns and suburbs across upstate," Schumer said.
