Iowa’s "drug czar" says the vast amount of methamphetamine that’s now consumed in the state is crystallized. Iowa Drug Control Policy Coordinator Gary Kendell says since Iowa law was changed to make it harder to get the ingredients to make meth here, the illegal drug is being shipped in from outside the state in the form of "ice" — that’s the slang term for crystallized meth.
"Ice" or "krank" as it is sometimes called is smoked in a pipe and results in an instant dose of almost pure drug to the brain and a high that can last up to 16 hours. "We need to continue to be vigilant about it," Kendell says. The number of meth labs found in Iowa has declined almost 80 percent since the state law took effect which put products with pseudoephedrine — the most common ingredient for making meth — behind the pharmacy counter.
That law took effect on May 21st, 2005 — almost two years ago. There have also been efforts to secure anhydrous ammonia tanks throughout the state to make it more difficult to get that meth ingredient, too.