METHODIST UNIVERSITY PROGRAM PROVIDES TRAINING IN IDENTIFYING METH LABS

A virtual reality simulator at Methodist University will soon help
authorities learn how to spot a methamphetamine lab. On Tuesday, the
university received a $150,000 federal grant to provide training to
social workers, teachers, law enforcement and others who could
potentially identify a dangerous clandestine lab. Students who strap
on gloves and goggles can take a virtual walk through a house where
they have to decide whether a pack of Sudafed, for example, is being
used to make drugs or treat a cold based on what they see.

The number of clandestine lab cases in North Carolina dropped
dramatically in 2006 with a new law that put certain cold medicines
behind pharmacy counters, because the ingredients are used to make
meth. But authorities say the numbers are slowly climbing again.

The State Bureau of Investigation - which responds whenever a lab is
found - worked 195 cases in 2008, followed by 206 cases last year.
Sixty-two labs have been identified this year.

Almost two weeks ago, Fayetteville police found a meth lab about three
miles from campus, said Methodist's president, Elton Hendricks.
Hendricks, U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell and other politicians, academics
and public servants celebrated the grant Tuesday with a check
presentation, tours of the simulator and displays of meth labs.

"Folks don't realize how dangerous this stuff is until you show up at
the site," said U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge.

Carla Raineri Padilla, the director of Methodist's program, said
chemicals used to manufacture meth are prone to explode and create
health problems - including irreversible brain damage. They pose
dangers for drug users, children or others who live near a clandestine
lab.

During one phase of manufacturing meth, a deadly nerve agent is
created, Padilla said.

"You can die if you inhale it," she said. "Meth makers think you can
capture it in a punch bowl, run outside and release it."

Information about how to make the highly addictive drug is rampant,
she said. Padilla bought books on how to manufacture and booby-trap a
lab on Amazon.com, she said. The books were on display for the
dignitaries along with boxes of cold medicine, brake fluid cans and
other empty household products used to make the drug.

One display lab set up for the check presentation was shoved into an
old leather suitcase Padilla and her students found in a trash bin,
she said. Using photos from a meth house, Methodist officials and law
enforcement created the virtual scenes, which students can walk
through using the simulator. Padilla can add or remove objects in the
house - down to the photos on the refrigerator - to test the students'
powers of observation after they have learned about the manufacturing
process in class. In about 25 percent of cases where meth labs are
found, children were living in the home, officials say.

"Even if we get a couple people to recognize what is going on with a
child, we feel like we have done so much," Padilla said.

Coursework started Tuesday afternoon with a group of students from the
State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Academy. About 19 SBI
students will take the course, which can last up to eight hours, said
Rick Hetzel, the commander of the SBI's special response team.

"Our partnership with Methodist has been fantastic," Hetzel said.
Hetzel, the former clandestine lab coordinator for the SBI, has worked
closely with Methodist to develop the course, he said. In the future,
he wants to add an explosives component to the law enforcement
training to help officers avoid booby-traps, he said.