METH INGREDIENTS EASY TO FIND

After the bust of a would-be meth lab in Essa Township last week, The
Advance wanted to see how easily ingredients needed to create the
drug could be obtained in Barrie.

The first step was to Google meth and how to make it.

A recipe popped up on the computer screen, listing items needed and
what to do with them. It also had suggestions for substitutions if
some ingredients couldn't be found.

"That's the problem with at-home labs," OPP Sgt. Tom McMenemy said.
"Someone could do this with no chemical background, just like they
were making a cake. They're using solvents, acids and bases, and it's
dangerous if you don't mix it together properly."

Reporter Janis Ramsay went out shopping with the crude list and
returned a couple hours later with all of the necessary components.

Although many pharmacies have opted to remove pseudo ephedrine cold
medications - an ingredient in meth - from the shelves to make it
available only behind the counter has helped cut back on
availability, we were able to buy it off the shelf. We only bought
one package of cold medication, certainly not raising any alarm
bells. McMenemy said hundreds are needed to make meth.

Ramsay purchased a regular-sized, single item for each ingredient
needed and spent $60.38. Add in the cost of clear tubing, a
Pyrex-type bowl that can withstand hot and cold, and a scientific
flask, and the project is off the ground for less than $100. Within
two hours, a person could buy all of the supplies needed to get a lab going.

The meth recipe websites do not promote the production of meth, he
said, but people may try to do it on their own for "economic gain."

Since many chemicals like paint thinners and drain cleaners are used
to make meth, if someone has a lab in their home, there's likely to
be a strong smell.

Much like an indoor marijuana grow house, McMenemy said unusual
behaviour around a home could be a clue to a clandestine lab.

"The supplies are needed in large quantities, and they are strong
concentrations, so there will be strong chemical odours coming from
the building."

Unlike a marijuana grow-op, where people would come and go to tend to
the plants, people with an at-home meth lab will typically live
there. Meth can be made in a matter of hours, whereas marijuana takes
months to cultivate.

McMenemy said a small lab would typically make a one or two-ounce
batch of meth once a month.

Drug traffickers can sell from their home so another clue that
something is going on in your neighbour would be the number of
stranges coming and going from the home.

"Any home that's exposed to these type of chemicals would be
contaminated, so that has to be taken into effect."

He said the OPP's drug enforcement has educated the real estate board
and Children's Aid Society about meth, and it's also taught to
students in drug awareness programs.