EXPOSING KIDS TO METH LABS NOW CHILD ABUSE UNDER LAW

Exposing children to illegal crystal meth labs now is classified as severe
child abuse in Tennessee.

The change, signed into law this year, will make it easier for state
officials to take custody of children found at methamphetamine
manufacturing sites by expanding the definition of "abuse or neglect that
is likely to cause great bodily harm or death."

State officials previously had difficulty removing children from homes
where illegal activity could not be proved, said Carla Aaron, spokeswoman
for the Department of Children's Services, which crafted the legislation.

"This law allows that having a structure with a meth lab and child inside
is severe child abuse. It gives us more to work with," she said Wednesday.

Methamphetamine labs produce toxic fumes that can cause respiratory
problems, headaches, nausea, rashes and body sores. Exposure to phosphine
gas, a possible byproduct of creating methamphetamine, can sometimes result
in loss of consciousness and even death.

Those possibilities, along with risk of lab fires and neglect by addicted
parents, make the situation an "extremely toxic" one for children, said
Linda O'Neal, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Children
and Youth.

It's so toxic that when children are removed from their homes, "they can't
even take their clothes or any toys," O'Neal said. "It's virtually like a
toxic waste site that needs to be cleaned up."

O'Neal said her agency supported the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Randy
McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and Rep. Stancil Ford, R-Talbott, because it provides
permanency for children by "providing more protections before they are
returned to families, or, if that can't be done, facilitating the
termination of parental rights."

Under the law, a court's finding of severe abuse can be grounds for taking
a child permanently from the parents.

In recent years, methamphetamine production has reached epidemic
proportions in Tennessee, with the number of seized laboratories tripling
over the past three years - from 137 in 1999 to 365 in 2001, according to
the Drug Enforcement Agency's Web site. Many of the raids have occurred in
rural counties along the Cumberland Plateau.

The DEA lists Tennessee as No. 10 in the nation for the number of meth lab
seizures last year, with agency officials estimating that at least one lab
is either located or seized somewhere in the state every day.

Joel Reece, a DEA group supervisor in Nashville, says he hears "horror
stories" of agents getting sick from fumes breathed during meth labs seizures.

"(The law) will be effective in getting kids out of that environment,"
Reece said.