METH EPIDEMIC MAKES STATE PAY HEAVY PRICE FOR CHEAP DRUG

ROACHDALE, Ind. -- Town Marshal Heath Kerns was ambling into the
Whistle Stop Cafe to have lunch with his mom Friday when a teen boy
approached the 26-year-old lawman. "Hey, Heath. I think I found a meth
lab," the youth said.

Sure enough, the woods behind a tidy home contained ample evidence --
a trashy mess of batteries, a duffel bag, generators and a tank
stained a shade of teal at its brass fittings. The blue-green color
was a dead giveaway, says Kerns. It indicated the tank contained
anhydrous ammonia, a potentially deadly fertilizer used by farmers and
often found in fields in the spring.

Heath Kerns

The marshal quickly called Putnam County Sheriff Mark Frisbee, a
33-year-old meth expert who taught Kerns everything he knows about the
drug. Kerns then radioed the Indiana State Police, whose troopers have
received special training in meth lab cleanup, a potentially deadly
process that can cost $10,000 of taxpayer money.

Arrested were Herschell "Blue" Burris, 32, an unemployed Roachdale
native who recently moved back home from Danville, Ill., and his wife,
Cindi Ana Burris, 45. They are charged with manufacturing meth, a
cheap, highly addictive form of speed that makes users paranoid and
crazed. Because Kerns found Burris' two children playing in the yard,
not far from a flatbed truck filled with new and used hypodermic
needles, the couple also were slapped with child endangerment charges.
The children were taken away by Child Protection Service workers. The
parents are in the Putnam County Jail in Greencastle.

Welcome to my world -- and yours, too, if you think about
it.

Roachdale is a postcard-pretty little farm town with 975 people, one
of those places that moviemakers would adore because everything is so
typical. Founded in 1880, it sits in the northern part of Putnam
County, a gently rolling, mostly rural and largely beautiful part of
the state 50 miles west of Indianapolis. Putnam is also my home. I
moved to the county two years ago to, you know, get away from it all.

Then came meth. Now, the Greencastle Banner-Graphic, which usually
features news about 4-H winners and Rotary luncheons, contains
front-page stories about meth lab busts.

And why should you care? After all, it's just a day in the life --
thousands of people are arrested in Indiana on drug charges every
year. Why is meth worth an iota of attention?

Only because Indiana is in the throes of a meth epidemic, as reported
by Rob Schneider in The Indianapolis Star last month. In 1993, State
Police uncovered three meth labs in the state. In 2003, they found
1,260.

That Putnam has its growing share is significant. As rural counties
go, Putnam has certain advantages: the county seat of Greencastle is
home to DePauw University, a well-respected college with scores of
famous, talented alumni. The jobless rate in the county is 5.9
percent, the state's average. So when Putnam has a problem, we all
have a problem.

Overwhelming as all of this is, Frisbee is trying to get the tiger by
the tail. The DePauw graduate has hosted countless conferences on
meth, educating law officers and social workers from throughout the
country.

Also lending a hand is a documentary filmmaking class at DePauw taught
by Ken Bode. Four students have immersed themselves in understanding
the meth crisis in the county, says Bode. They have interviewed
inmates who are meth addicts. They also are hammering away at the
justice system, talking to prosecutors, social workers and judges --
anyone involved.

Bode says the film will be completed by May 15. It's not too early to
suggest that it is a must-see for all Hoosiers.