The State - News from April 14, 1986

The illegal white powder methamphetamine--also known as “speed” or “crank”--is being manufactured and used at such a rapid pace in Northern California that law enforcement authorities have warned that the region could become the state’s “crank capital.” Methamphetamine is sometimes called the “poor man’s cocaine,” because it gives users feelings of energy and power similar to the more expensive drug. “We are the leading state in the nation in production of methamphetamines, and the problem is growing worse all the time,” said Robert Elsberg, the head of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement’s Lab Task Force in San Francisco. “These labs are everywhere. Our Sacramento field office can’t seize them fast enough to keep up.”