Crime & Safety

Meth in the Suburbs?

'Ice' is here, but it's slow to make inroads

In a 2006 interview, a Strongsville police official said methamphetamine had yet to make an appearance in town.

"We see marijuana and cocaine and even heroin, but we haven't seen methamphetamine yet," former Deputy Chief Jim Spickler said.

Police officers in North Royalton and Parma had similar findings. 

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Today, meth is here. But the highly addictive stimulant, known for damaging the brains and rotting the teeth of its users, has still not made the inroads it has in other parts of the country.

"It's out there," Strongsville Detective Lt. John Janowski said. "We haven't seen much of it though."

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Hold the Ice

It's not just the suburbs that are enjoying a low-meth lifestyle.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy, in its most recent survey on Cleveland drug activity, issued in February 2007, says law enforcement continued to report "low and unchanged availability of methamphetamine in the Cleveland area."

Meanwhile, the report notes a "dramatic increase" in the availability of heroin in recent years, as well as widely available cocaine and marijuana. It also notes a serious problem with prescription painkiller abuse.

Why? Some officials speculate the cocaine drug lords in the Cleveland area have a tight grip on drug distribution here and have kept meth out.

There's also the way meth is manufactured -- in makeshift labs involving volatile chemicals. In the west and south, with more undeveloped land, mobile meth labs are common, with manufacturers cooking their product in a van -- and often tossing the hazardous waste out the window onto the side of the road.

"The problem is that when you make meth, it smells really bad," Janowski said. "If you try to do it in the suburbs, people call and complain about the smell."

Never Say Never

That's not to say, of course, that it doesn't happen here. In 2008, Strongsville police, responding to a domestic dispute on White Bark Drive, found the homeowner, who was a registered pharmacist, making meth in the basement.

He was charged with felonies and sentenced to prison. 

And the ONDCP says that in 2009, there were 305 meth lab seizures in Ohio, which means people are turning out at least moderate quantities of the drug, known on the street as ice or crank.

Still, the Drug Enforcement Administration, in its 2011 Drugs of Abuse publication, says the vast majority of meth in the United States comes from Mexico. 

Coke is It? Maybe Not

Meth comes in two forms: Regular meth is a pill or powder that is swallowed or snorted; crystal meth looks like fragments of glass that is smoked or injected.

Smoking and injecting produces an intense rush, while snorting or swallowing creates a long-lasting high that can continue for half a day, according to the DEA. The length of the high makes meth a better value for the drug user's money.

The effects on the body can be brutal, though. The drug elevates breathing rates, causes wakefulness and decreases appetite -- but that's just for starters.

It can also cause irritability, insomnia, anxiety, paranoia, aggression, confusion and tremors.

Large amounts can elevate body temperature to lethal levels. Over time, it can cause strokes and irregular heartbeat.

Drug of choice

The most common drug police in Strongsville find is still marijuana.

"There's more pot smokers than anything," Janowski said.

Lately, police are finding a higher grade of potent marijuana that people "are paying a lot of money for," he said.

But parents shouldn't kid themselves -- anything a drug user wants, he can find in Strongsville.

"It's available," Janowski said. "Everything's out there."


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