METH POPULAR IN TENNESSEE

Task Force Gathering Ideas to Fight Proliferation of This Drug.

Tennessee is not No. 1 when it comes to education. But it
leads the Southeast in the number of methamphetamine labs -- 1,100 of
them -- that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency seized last year.

In response to the proliferation of these labs, the Governor's Task
Force on Methamphetamine Abuse was formed. It's been charged with
making recommendations on a methamphetamine policy to Gov. Phil
Bredesen by Sept. 1 and has been traveling around the state to hear
from those on the front lines in fighting methamphetamine production.

For those who want to get into the illegal drug business,
methamphetamine is an attractive drug to produce because it doesn't
take rare ingredients nor a degree in chemistry to make. These
homemade laboratories use over-the-counter cold and allergy tablets
containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine that are mixed with common
household products.

The drug that is produced is a stimulant that works on the central
nervous system. It can be smoked, snorted, orally injested and
injected to produce the rush that comes from the release of dopamine
into the brain.

According to the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy,
"Chronic methamphetamine abuse can lead to psychotic behavior
including intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and
out-of-control rages that can result in violent episodes."

Production of methamphetamine has its own dangers. Poisonous gas is
released into the air. Toxic waste can be hazardous to anyone who
comes in contact with it. The labs themselves can explode.

In Montgomery County last year, 16 meth labs were discovered. While
the number of these labs has not increased here at the rate over in
East Tennessee, meth production is considered a growing problem locally.

Anything that the new task force can recommend that will help to
reverse the rising popularity of methamphetamine in the state will be
welcomed.

Chemistry lab should be a part of a course taught at school -- not as
a part of the creation of a dangerous illegal drug in Tennessee.