PROLIFIC METH LABS STYMIE COPS

State, local officers discuss strategies at forum on the potent,
easy-to-make drug

RALEIGH -- State and local law enforcement officials feel powerless to stop
a flurry of methamphetamine labs popping up across the state. By year's end,
the State Bureau of Investigation predicts, it will dismantle 300 to 400
meth labs in North Carolina, up from only nine in 1999 and 177 in 2003.

"We've had a huge explosion, and none of us expected it to get this way,"
Johnston County Sheriff's Lt. Chad Thompson told more than 50 state and
local law enforcement and emergency management officials gathered Tuesday
for a summit on methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine -- said to be 10 times stronger than cocaine -- is made from
cold medicine and common household goods such as Drano and iodine. An entire
lab worth of products can cost less than $300; meth labs are often small
enough to fit into a duffel bag.

In North Carolina, most labs are small scale, and many manufacturers use a
method that doesn't require a heat source. With this recipe, producers can
make the drug miles from civilization or in their vehicles.

Tuesday's summit allowed officers to swap stories and hear the latest trends
in a drug problem facing communities across the nation. U.S. Rep. Bob
Etheridge of Lillington was host for the event.

Federal and state officials offered few words of hope to police officers,
firefighters and emergency medical responders.

"It's going to get much worse before it gets better," said John Emerson, the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's head officer in North Carolina.

Once someone is hooked on meth, SBI special agent Van Shaw said, there's
little chance of stopping the addiction. Treatment success rates are
marginal, less than 6 percent, Shaw said.

"One hundred percent of those running labs are addicted to it," Shaw said.

Recipes for the drug can be pulled from Web sites or chat rooms, but most
often, friends teach one another.

Starting Dec. 1, North Carolina residents making meth will face tougher
penalties. Currently, Thompson said, those busted in Johnston County for
making meth receive at most six months in jail.

Under the new guidelines, those convicted of manufacturing meth will receive
a mandatory minimum of four to five years in prison for a first offense.

If a child lives in the home where meth is made, two years will be tacked
onto the sentence. Already this year, 79 children were found living in homes
manufacturing meth, Shaw said.

Two more years can be added to the sentence if a law enforcement officer or
firefighter is hurt while cleaning up the lab. Nine first responders have
been injured this year while dismantling meth labs.

Even though the DEA pays for meth lab cleanups -- which can cost from $3,000
to $10,000 per lab -- local communities incur significant costs. Local
officials must barricade and guard meth labs until SBI crews arrive to
dismantle them. Sometimes, the wait can last a half-day, a significant
burden for volunteer firefighters.