READY FOR DRUG WAR CENTER DETAILS

When acting DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart was a special agent
conducting drug raids in the early 1980s, her safety equipment was a
pair of plastic gloves.

And she said she and her colleagues couldn't figure out why they
frequently suffered headaches and "kind of had hallucinations" as
they drove back to the office after raids.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has come a long way in
understanding the hazards of illicit drugs and drug labs in the
nearly three decades since Leonhart became an agent.

And yesterday, on the western side of the Quantico Marine Corps Base,
the DEA took another leap forward, dedicating its $16.4 million
Clandestine Laboratory Training and Research Center.

Next month, the DEA moves from 11 1950s-era Quonset huts on the base
and into the 31,600-square-foot building.

The facility will be used to train DEA agents and law enforcement
officers from local, state and other federal agencies as well as from
other countries. The officers will learn the hazards of drug labs,
how to safely breach buildings where labs may be operating, and how
to recognize clues that someone is setting up a lab.

"This means fewer agent casualties, fewer law enforcement officers
hurt," Leonhart said during yesterday's dedication.

"Nothing is ever as important as keeping our agents safe," she added.

Stafford County Sheriff Charlie Jett attended the dedication and said
four of his deputies have been through the DEA's clandestine-lab
training over the years.

And he said that while methamphetamine labs--the primary drug-lab
problem in the U.S.--aren't a problem in the Fredericksburg area, the
training helps deputies recognize the components for such labs when
making traffic stops.

Plus, given that meth labs are highly volatile and thus a safety
issue for the public, Jett has narcotics detectives keep an eye on
local stores to make sure that ephedrine sources--the key component
for making meth--are kept behind the pharmacy counters as required by law.

The other advantage of the DEA training is that Jett's officers know
whom to call for help if they come into contact with suspicious materials.

John McCarty, special agent in charge of DEA training, said officers
from throughout the Fredericksburg region have been through his
agency's weeklong training.

Because the DEA has only 5,349 agents, it depends on local
departments to help fight its war on illicit drugs, he said. But he
stressed that operating safely is critical to every officer.

"There are chemicals out there so noxious that death would be almost
instantaneous," he said.

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Some specifics on the Drug Enforcement Administration's Clandestine
Laboratory Training and Research Center at Quantico Marine Corps Base:

Cost: $16.4 million

Size: 31,600 square feet

Time to build: two years

Staff: 13, including one unit chief, one senior instructor, five
course developers, four support staff and two chemists

Training capacity: 900-plus officers annually

Features include:

. a 2,200-square-foot lab space where chemists will teach students
how to synthesize illicit drugs including methamphetamines

. a 2,000-square-foot tactical training facility for officers to
learn how to raid and secure a lab

. a "smoke house" where students will learn how to assess and process
a clandestine drug lab. Students will learn how to operate while
wearing protective gear and in situations where they encounter smoke.

. a firearms simulation training room that enables students to
practice judgment calls on when to shoot or not shoot while searching
a structure

. a mock lab space where various components of illicit drug labs can
be displayed