Candy-Flavored Meth Targets New Users

"Strawberry Quick" Combines Meth With Sweet Kids Drink Mix

(AP)  During an investigation last month, Arkansas police officers found a bundle of materials suspected of being used to cook methamphetamine in a trash can — but what gave them pause were the packets of a strawberry-flavored children's drink mix next to it.

From lollipops to high-sugar sodas, law enforcement officials say they've found meth cut with a variety of candies, drinks and other materials over the years. Officials say the "designer meth" can smooth the chemically rough ingestion of the drug, making it easier for first-time users to try.

"It's really a bitter substance ... so if you're going to try to make it more consumable for the masses, then you're going to want to try to take that edge off whichever way you can," said Chris Harrison, chief illicit laboratory chemist at the Arkansas lab.

"The drug cartels operate just like any other corporation would — if they want to increase their market share, then they're going to have to change something about it. This is just an evolution. They've saturated the heavy users, now they are moving onto some other people," he said.

The latest meth cut, known as "Strawberry Quick," uses powdered drink mix to give the drug a pink coloring. The sweetness of the powder can make meth more palatable and partially masks its harsh chemical taste.

The new cut has been the focus of several law enforcement bulletins in western states. While there have been several reported cases of police finding the cut in Arkansas, it is "not widespread," said William Bryant, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency's Little Rock district office.

"It's a different spin, like a marketing thing," Bryant said.

That marketing has taken a variety of forms for methamphetamine, found in powder and in a crystalized form similar to broken glass. Its low boiling point allows for it to easily be smoked or injected as a liquid into the bloodstream.

Because of its chemical properties, meth easily mixes into any water-based liquid. Caffeinated, high-sugar energy drinks and sodas often litter areas where meth cookers manufacture the drug, sometimes used as a chaser to the stimulant, Harrison said.

Outside of drinks, police also have seen meth mixed with a variety of candy, cola and chocolate flavors. Cutting it with something else also may help cutting down the burning sensation some have when snorting powdered meth, Harrison said. When snorted, he said meth can destroy a person's septum.

"You have some hard-core users that are prepared for the burn that methamphetamine will have," Harrison said. "Snorting it is supposed to be really hard on the nostrils."

Some meth cookers also have dyed meth different colors using a process similar to that used to make rock candy, though Harrison said it didn't help cover the taste.

"Strawberry Quick" came to prominence in January, after the Nevada Department of Public Safety issued a bulletin describing the type of meth there, said Steve Robertson, a Washington-based spokesman for the DEA. In the time since, Robertson says DEA agents have heard reports of flavored meth appearing in Missouri, Texas, Washington state and Wisconsin — though he stressed it was not a nationwide phenomenon.

"Traffickers are out there and are trying to sell it to customers, whether they are young customers or older, brand-new customers by changing the color or the taste or just giving it a less-intimidating name, they are trying to make it seem less dangerous and lure this new customer base," Robertson said. "If someone was completely terrified of trying it, it might diminish the threat."

The reports of flavored meth come as the DEA and local police department keep increased pressure on the drug's manufacturers. In 2005, the Arkansas Legislature required those purchasing over-the-counter medications that can be used to cook meth show identification and that the drugs be stored in a secure location. This year, the Legislature approved creating an electronic database to monitor sales of the medications.

Bryant says those crackdowns contributed the number of found methamphetamine labs in Arkansas dropping from 1,206 in 2004 to 446 last year. In the first quarter of this year, he said there have been only 56 labs found.

However, Harrison cautioned as the number of discovered labs has dropped, the amount of methamphetamine being seized by police has increased steadily. He said that could be coming from operations not being found by police, as well as meth coming into the state from the west coast and Mexico.

Rick Gallagher, assistant director of the state Crime Laboratory, said the drug remains one of the most abused in the state.

"It might vary from place to place like alcohol and marijuana, but you'd hear the word 'methamphetamine' a whole lot," Gallagher said.

[yaquiindian]

I am with you there the kool-aid pitcher would come through the wall

[honestabe8]

rushman71: i am happy you have found a belief system that works for you. however, you do realize that quoting a book to unbelievers has only limited validity, don't you? the fact that many people share the same beliefs is irrelevant. many more have believed in hinduism, but it doesn't necessarily make it objectively correct. and, you haven't "proven" your point, only restated your belief.

[rushman71]

honestabe8: Psalm 118: 8 It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.
How can you believe in one persons opinion, that the belief that there is no God, when there have been millions of people who have witnessed, experienced, or know of others who have experienced the blessings of the Lord for thousands of years. I rest my case. God bless you.

[rushman71]

VictoriaRum: Amen, to you. Pray for the unbelievers, for their minds are within the winds, blown out of proportion. They believe in anything but the God given truth.

[rushman71]

honestabe8: by all means, share your opinion, but there is no way to make proof of your point.

[honestabe8]

rushman71. i am no more able to prove you wrong than you are able to prove your point. therefore, it's an opinion.

[gunownerdan]

You've got to be pretty ignorant to use meth.
Just look at those before and after photos, you will lose your teeth, your hair, you'll have scabs on your face, and you will lose a lot of weight all after just a few years of meth use.
It's pretty sickening. Meth heads are killing themselves and the drug is making them too stupid to care.

[ralan40]

I can't get out of my head, julie andrews as 'Mary Poppins' singing "just a spooooonfull of sugar helps the medicine go down....in the most deliiiiiightful waaaaaay"
But then I start thinking that it may be better just to start letting kids smoke pot. At least it was more natural and might keep them them trying these refined chemicals or huffing freon from the neighborhood ACs.

[rushman71]

Hey, prove me wrong. Unfortunately, you can't.

[olebd]

My luck I would try some and that big Kool-Aid pitcher character would come breaking through the wall of my house and beat me to death.

OH YEAH!

[honestabe8]

the bible is fact, not opinion? you certainly have a low threshhold for what you consider fact.

[rushman71]

bobgee_1999: Try reading the bible. Those are the facts, not opinions. The God Delusion--if you believe in that ***, that is pretty sad. What kind of idiot would buy that. Oh, and sorry about the mispelling, you atheist pig!!!!!!

[bobgee_1999]

rushman71: I will echo osidebear's statement, since it upsets you so much: "Praying will do precisely nothing to help with this situation." If you want statistics on the efficacy of prayer, read "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Of course you won't, because you jealously claim the "right" to an opinion, no matter how uninformed you are. That's the beauty of religion, isn't it? By the way, if you're interested, you hideously mispelled "atheistic," but I'm sure you don't care about that either, since niceties like spelling and grammar just get in the way of you barfing out whatever ignorant gibberish crosses your mind. Lastly, I am an American, and I want as many atheistic remarks as I can get, so up yours. We have free speech in America, indisputably stated in the 1st Amendment, so if that's a problem for you, remember the ol' redneck admonition: "Love It or Leave It."

[shingles1]

Liberal MSM, always looking at the negative!

However, candy flavored meth does totally explain why lars008 is the way he is.

[honestabe8]

GunOwnerDan: I know I am singing to the choir, but the War On Drugs is a collossal failure. The war on terror is looking to be every bit as successful.

[honestabe8]

How much less evil are restaurants that sell kids garbage food with plastic toys? When will we be sending Ronald McDonald to prison?

[terribayless-2009]

"it is "not widespread," said William Bryant"

But they are making sure everyone knows about it. Let's give all the drug dealers the idea of what they need to do to make theirs better!

[processorr2]

Ummm...pretty pink rocks.

That looks yummy.

[rushman71]

Uh hedonist3, who said I was?

[hedonist3]

Uh, rushman71 -- I am an American. Please don't presume to speak for me.