One thing about illegal drugs police count on -- drugs that used to be popular will inevitably make a comeback.
Although levels of use are nowhere near 2002 or 2003 -- and probably never will be -- methamphetamine arrests have started to rise again.
"We never think a drug is beat. We know it is coming back; it is just a matter of when," Chief Deputy Maj. Todd Fort said.
Laws passed during the methamphetamine wave in the earlier part of the decade likely will ensure Saline County will never return to the days when Eldorado Police made 150 felony arrests related to meth in a year, or the court system swelled to twice its normal case load. Ingredients, such as pseudoephedrine, are now tracked and are harder for users to hoard, Sheriff Keith Brown said.
Law enforcement officers now have more tools in their arsenal to deal with any problems before they get severely out of hand.
Deputies are seeing more tampering at anhydrous tanks and more evidence of active meth labs is being seen along rural roadsides, Brown said.
A couple of factors are probably playing into the increase. When it became harder for local residents to cook methamphetamine, hardcore users had to look for different, more traditional ways to get ahold of the drug.
"The Mexican dope had kind of taken over for the local stuff," Fort said.
However, imported meth is substandard and some people are turning to cooking again, Fort said.
Also, people who were sentenced several years ago on meth charges are starting to get out of prison. As they leave prison and return to the area, they return to their old habits, investigator Mike Jones said.
Saline County is part of a pilot program allowing counties to collect and track methamphetamine precursors at several locations for identifying possible users. People who purchase excessive amounts of pseudoephedrine -- the law allows two boxes of drugs containing the substance -- may be tracked.
"You can be charged with buying more than a specified amount at a given time," Fort said.
Brown urged people to call the Sheriff's Department about any possible methamphetamine-related activity. Items on the roadside or in woods like propane tanks with valves stained green, soda bottles with plastic tubes or mason-type jars with liquid inside may be signs of methamphetamine activity. If a mason-type jar or other container is bubbling or appears under pressure, it should be left alone and law enforcement should be contacted immediately, Fort said.
-- People with a tip for the Sheriff's Department may call Central Dispatch at 252-8661 or the tip line at 252-5342.
