STATE LEADS IN SEIZED METH LABS

KNOXVILLE (AP) -- Tennessee leads the Southeast in the number of
methamphetamine labs discovered by authorities in the past three years,
according to a report released Wednesday.

The highly addictive drug -- also known as meth, crank, ice or chalk -- is
made using readily available ingredients such as pseudoephedrine (found in
cold medicines), hydrochloric acid, Drano and lighter fluid.

Once used by biker gangs and World War II soldiers trying to stay awake and
alert, methamphetamine has quickly spread in the past few years from the
western United States and Mexico to the Midwest and the South as a cheap
alternative to cocaine.

"This meth problem has been called the moonshine of our generation, but I
would say times 100," U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., told law enforcement
officials Wednesday at a symposium on efforts to combat the drug. "People
lived through the moonshine problem. They're not living through the meth
problem."

There were 1,116 meth labs seized by authorities in the Southeast between
January 1999 and July 2001, according to a report by the National Drug
Intelligence Center, an office of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Tennessee led the region with 510 labs seized, followed by Mississippi,
222; Alabama, 192; Georgia, 89; Florida, 53; Louisiana, 27; North Carolina,
13; and South Carolina, 10.

Virginia and Kentucky were not counted as part of the Southeast. Two other
Tennessee border states were counted to demonstrate how the drug is moving
west to east -- Missouri had 1,261 labs seized; Arkansas, 600. "Now we find
labs everywhere. It's become truly a scourge," said U.S. Attorney Russ
Dedrick of Knoxville.

The Tennessee labs were concentrated in 28 counties of the Sequatchie
Valley and Cumberland Plateau from Chattanooga to Crossville and north to
the Kentucky border.

Authorities seized 245 labs in East Tennessee, compared to 126 in the
western and 139 in the middle portions of the state.

Meth labs found in rural areas are usually hidden in the woods, but
authorities say they are frequently finding more labs made from camp stoves
and bottles in houses, hotel rooms, campers and cars.

The drug is odorless and colorless, but the chemicals used to make it can
cause explosions when cooking and vapors that create the same effect as
secondhand smoke. Children living in homes where meth is manufactured often
test positive for the drug because of exposure, authorities said.

Reducing meth trafficking is difficult because it's a closed market --
people go to the home or motel room of someone they know to buy the drug,
compared to cocaine or heroine, which is often bought from street dealers.

The drug initially makes a user feel powerful, confident and alert. Side
effects can include days without sleep and weight loss. Over time the drug
twists the brain chemistry and nerve endings die due to the lack of oxygen,
creating sensations like bugs crawling under the skin.

A study released in 1999 by the National Institute of Justice, the research
branch of the Department of Justice, showed more than 9.4 million people in
the United States had used meth, and most were white males in their 30s.

To help curb meth manufacturing, authorities have increased enforcement
against store owners who sell in bulk items used for meth production.

Other retailers, like Wal-Mart, alert authorities when someone purchases a
large amount of coffee filters, propane tanks, lithium batteries and other
items commonly found in meth labs, said Tom Williams, a spokesman for the
retail chain.

Education about meth also has helped authorities find labs.

The Tennessee National Guard, for example, tours with an educational
display of items found in typical meth labs and how they are used. The last
stop was a Grundy County fair, where Sgt. Tim Reagan said some people
recognized the cooking methods from something they saw in their neighborhoods.

Without such education, "a lot of neighbors don't know what's going on next
to them," Reagan said.