MINNESOTA EXPECTS MORE METH LABS, ARRESTS

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A state investigator estimated the number of
methamphetamine labs seized in Minnesota could double each year for the
next few years, bringing with them thousands of pounds of toxic waste,
paranoid addicts and dangerous criminals.

"In terms of raw numbers of labs, it will get worse before it gets better,"
said Tim O'Malley, special investigation supervisor at the Minnesota Bureau
of Criminal Apprehension.

Narcotics officers in Minnesota seized about 192 pounds of meth last year,
and arrested 1,206 people on meth-related charges, compared to 944 arrests
in 1999. In 1997, police seized 21 labs. In 1999, there were 110. Last
year, 144.

O'Malley predicted 350 labs will be seized in Minnesota this year.

O'Malley attributed the increased activity in Minnesota to Iowa law
enforcement's effort to clamp down. Wisconsin and Michigan also are seeing
increases in meth seizures, he said.

Meth is a powerful and addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous
system. The chemicals used to make it produce toxic fumes and have caused
fires and explosions.

Police said the lure for meth manufacturers is simple. It costs only $150
to $200 to make a batch that sells for $3,000 to $4,000 - 1 to 2 ounces of
meth per batch, 280 hits to the ounce, a high of four hours per hit. A
uthorities describe each meth lab as a miniature toxic waste dump. Cooking
a batch of homemade meth produces about 6 pounds of toxic waste that is
often dumped in back yards, ditches, fire pits and septic systems.

The drug is cooked from common ingredients, including ether, drain cleaner,
acetone, cold pills with ephedrine, lye, and anhydrous ammonia - an
unstable fertilizer that can burn skin or explode. ` `This is not just a
law enforcement problem. It's a huge public safety problem," O'Malley said.
"To look at it from strictly a law enforcement problem is a mistake."

He serves on a multi-agency state task force that is developing a
coordinated response to deal with the variety of health, environmental and
social issues that are an outgrowth of growing meth production.

The Minnesota Department of Health produced guidelines in March for making
former meth labs habitable again, but the costs of ripping out carpet and
scrubbing hard surfaces and more are often greater than just demolishing
the building.

However, leaving the residue of the drug or its components behind can make
people sick. Dick Ripley, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent,
said the agency sends letters to property owners after a meth lab is seized.

"The letters go out right after the search warrant is executed, telling the
owner that a drug lab was seized and that contaminants can remain at the
house," Ripley said.

The same information is given to the state health department, which shares
it with county health agencies. Then a letter is sent to people who would
have interests in health, environment and pollution control issues, he said.

The DEA also recommends that children found at meth lab sites be taken to a
hospital for medical evaluation.

John Cotner, a DEA special agent, said it's hard to say how exposure to
meth, or the toxic fumes used to make the drug, will affect people.

"We don't know how they will react," he said. "It would be easier if they
were all violent."

For example, Cotner said two years ago in Pope County a paranoid meth user
thought his neighbor's cow was spying on him. He cut off the cow's face
with a chain saw.