Drug Recipes on Web Raise New Fears

The arrest of an Irvine teenager who told police she was “cooking” up drugs using a recipe taken off the Internet has Orange County officials worrying that the incident could signal the start of a new trend in experimental drug use among youths.

The 16-year-old told detectives after her arrest last week that she had been trying to master a recipe for making “methcathinone,” commonly called “cat,” an illegal stimulant similar to methamphetamine that has been furiously popular in the Midwest in recent years but rarely seen in California.

The teen, whose name is not being released because of her age, said the detailed, step-by-step instructions came from the Internet. But police suspect the handwritten recipe found in her backpack indicates she might have had help from others, who were aware of the need to conceal the project from law enforcement.

The recipe was accompanied by a note that said: “To you, from me. . .by the way, burn this synthesis after you memorize it. The [Drug Enforcement Administration] ain’t the best visitors in Irvine.”

The incident--which comes on the heels of others involving youths who have tangled with danger while toying around with the Internet--raises new concerns about the amount of information that can be accessed at the tap of a keyboard.

“Anyone, anyone can find more than they want, or need to know, about this and other drugs so fast it will make your head spin,” said Irma Allison, a teen drug counselor in Chicago who has witnessed the infestation of methcathinone in area schools since 1993. “Do you want your kid reading the diaries of drug addicts who make their weeklong highs sound like a fantasy vacation? Do you want your kid seeing ‘advice pages’ to help them correct a bad batch of dope? Or where to shop for the ingredients?”

Allison attributes the drug addictions of many of her young patients to what she calls an “overload” of information available on home computers.

Without even going out, teenagers are getting into trouble, she said.

But the potential danger isn’t limited to drug use. When a 14-year-old Rochester, N.Y., girl ran away from home last year to meet a 22-year-old man she met through an online chat room, officials there started encouraging parents to keep better tabs on their children’s computer use.

“It’s been said that [the Internet] is a city,” said Capt. Maureen Chisholm of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department in New York. “Would you allow your children to go into the city without parental guidance and consent?”

Narcotics officials said they are startled by the volume of information waiting to be downloaded about methcathinone, which debuted in Michigan six years ago.

No fewer than 25 Internet sites are devoted to the drug, including how to make it, enhance its “high” and reduce the costs of certain ingredients. In one Internet recipe for methcathinone, the author acknowledges that he hasn’t tried the method and leads the meticulous instructions with this suggestion: “If your kitchen does not explode, lemme know.”

While the “cat lab” in Irvine last week was the first in Orange County since 1994, officials said they fear seeing more of the same as the drug’s popularity rises.

The easy-to-get ingredients--which include over-the-counter decongestants and skull-and-crossbones chemicals like drain cleaner, paint thinners and concrete cleaners--make manufacturing methcathinone appealing, officials said.

“They can do it cheap and sell it for $100 a gram,” said Special Agent Gary Hudson, a supervisor for the state’s Bureau of Narcotics. “But they do it at a risk. It’s extremely dangerous to fool around with.”

The 16-year-old’s uncle, however, said his niece is a bright student who was probably “just stirring things up” rather than launching a serious drug manufacturing lab. He called police only after noticing an odd smell in the house but failing to get an explanation from her about what it was, he said.

“She was just experimenting, I am sure of it,” said her uncle, who spoke on condition that his name not be used. “She is not a druggie person. She is curious.”

But police said the girl’s supplies appeared to have the beginnings of a potentially lucrative drug lab, including recipes for other drugs as well.

She had already thrown away at least two failed batches of methcathinone before her arrest Friday, officials said.

“This was not just glasses out of the cupboard,” Irvine Police Lt. Tom Hume said. “We’re very concerned about this.”

The girl, who was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance, was released from Juvenile Hall to her parents, Hume said. She had been living at her uncle’s house when she was arrested.