ALTERING FERTILIZER COULD LEAVE METH LABS LACKING INGREDIENT

People who brew up methamphetamine, the highly addictive, speedlike drug,
at home may soon be scratching their heads and looking for a new recipe.

One of their key ingredients, anhydrous ammonia, could be on the verge of
losing its get-high properties. The highly toxic liquid, used legitimately
as a fertilizer, is found on farms -- and easily stolen from farms.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in North Laurel,
Md., now have found in lab tests that by adding an iron compound, anhydrous
ammonia still can fertilize, but it becomes practically impotent in
meth-making.

Even if the research pans out after further testing, a new, improved
anhydrous ammonia is not the silver bullet for meth, cautions Eric
Lawrence, director of forensic analysis for the Indiana State Police and
its top meth lab expert.

"We're cautiously hopeful," Lawrence said.

Meth labs, once a rural phenomenon, an updated version of the moonshiner's
still, began appearing in Marion County only a few years ago. The operators
typically aren't big dealers. More often they make only enough for
themselves and their friends.

The drug also is available "on the street," imported in large quantities.
Police say most of the meth in Marion County comes from Texas and California.

In its powder form, meth is snorted; in its liquid form, it's injected. The
cost is minimal. Ten dollars' worth of meth gets a person out of his mind
for an afternoon, compared with about a 30-minute high for the same amount
of crack cocaine.

The meth labs pose a danger to anyone nearby. Two years ago, a mishap at a
meth lab in a Far-Westside motel caused a fire. This year, also on the Far
Westside, a meth lab blew up in an apartment. There were no injuries in
that incident, but last year in Lebanon a man was killed after a meth lab
exploded in an apartment he was visiting.

Even when meth labs don't blow up, they're trouble. They generate hazardous
waste. After a lab is busted, the cleanup cost can reach $4,500, said Sgt.
Dave Phelps of the Indiana State Police.

In Indiana, officials are on track to bust 800 meth labs this year. That's
up from 681 last year and 129 three years ago.

"Through the '90s it just kind of doubled," said Phelps, who so far this
year has helped dismantle 100 meth labs. "Then, in '99, it just kind of
exploded -- and has continued to."

While anhydrous ammonia is used in most of the meth labs found in Indiana,
there is another way to make methamphetamine -- the "red phosphorous" method.

Red phosphorous is available at chemical supply stores -- though the
purchaser must sign for it.

It's also found on the striking plates of matchbooks. Lawrence said it
takes 1,800 matchbooks to produce 1 gram of pure red phosphorous, but he
has seen it done.

"We've found trash bags full of matchbooks," he said. "These people have a
lot of energy."