'Strawberry ice' targeting kids

This is a transcript of an Australian tv show A Current Affair

US drug agencies are warning Australians to brace for a new wave of strawberry-flavoured amphetamines specifically designed to appeal to juvenile taste-buds.

The flavoured drug, known as "strawberry ice", has already proved popular with young addicts in the States, according to US drug enforcement agent Sarah Cullen.

"During the manufacture process, they are cooking it with a strawberry flavouring and some pink reddish food colouring," she reveals to A Current Affair. "They're manufacturing and pushing them into pills and really they’re marketed towards kids."

Cullen also warns that Australia’s wide open spaces could lead to the kind of easy "superlabs" which operate all over the US.

The labs can be set up or disassembled in a matter of hours with minimal equipment, Cullen said. The equipment used to set up the lab can fit into a suitcase.

"We might not be able to get vehicles close enough to see it (the lab) without being detected," she said.

High-level security at the drug labs allows their operators to know when police or other law enforcement agencies are watching them and shut down quickly.

"A lot of the times these labs will have booby traps or their own surveillance equipment set up to watch people who might come and check it out."

The Us took too long to confront ice's devastating effect on users, crime and society, says agent Cullen. She warns Australia against becoming complacent.

"This is something you'll never stop. We're at the US/Mexico border, where every day and night drug mules are lining up here to smuggle ice in from Tijuana," agent Cullen said. "Australian authorities have a similar problem, the only the difference is our international enemy in the crystal meth war is China."

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/
Pubdate: Tues, 6 Mar 2007
Source: A Current Sffair (Australia- Web)
Reporter: Amanda Paterson
Website: http://aca.ninemsn.com.au