METH HOMES LEAVE KIDS WITH NOTHING

Children Of Dealers, Exposed To Chemicals, Face Difficult Recovery

RUTHERFORDTON - In five years as foster parents, Betsy Lane and
Rodrigo Hernandez have cared for dozens of neglected children in need
of a safe place to call home. But the brother and sister who arrived
on a rainy night last year had troubles far worse than most.

The children had nothing.

No games, no photos, no favorite blanket or stuffed animal.

All their possessions were contaminated, and therefore all were destroyed.

The elementary-school-aged siblings were even hosed down by emergency
workers to wash away the toxic remnants of their home in rural
Western North Carolina, a home that doubled as the family's
methamphetamine lab. "When I opened the door I was just sort of
startled because they looked so tired and so beaten down by the whole
thing," Lane said. "They came in their socks." The children were
among the about 200 N.C. youngsters found in the past two years
living in homes where parents were cooking meth. While children from
such homes make up a tiny fraction of those removed by the state,
experts say they have scars that exceed those of other foster
children, including exposure to the toxic chemicals used to make the
highly addictive drug. "These kids literally come with nothing," said
Stacey Darbee, president of the N.C. Foster and Adoptive Parent
Association. "They have some other problems that other kids won't
have. They'll have asthma from breathing chemicals in."

Meth addiction often leads to psychotic or violent behavior, as well
as brain damage.

Those high on meth will often stay awake for days at a time, and if
they're parents, that can mean children are left to feed, bathe, and
clothe themselves, as well as watch out for each other. "I mean, some
of these kids have never even brushed their teeth," said Hernandez,
50, who runs a recycling business. "The first thing to do is you have
to set rules because most of these kids come from homes where they
have no rules.

None. Zero."

The children of meth addicts also bring unwanted topics such as sex,
drugs and coarse language into foster homes, forcing parents to take
extra precautions to protect their own children.

And yet despite the pain their parents mistakes' have caused, Lane
said children from meth homes remain very protective of their
addicted relatives, and fear classmates and neighbors will find out
what has happened. "They'll fluff it up," she said. "They're really
embarrassed and ashamed." The boy who came to live with the couple in
January 2005 blamed police, not his parents, for his family's troubles.

"He was really angry and I sat him down and I said, 'Do you want to
know what happened?' And he looked at me and said, 'I know what
happened.' He said, 'I just don't want anybody else to know,' " Lane,
41, recalled. The number of meth labs found in the state dropped by
about a third during the first three months of this year compared
with the same period in 2005. Authorities credit a law that took
effect on Jan. 15, which restricts the sale of cold medicines used to
make the highly addictive drug. "We think that this is an encouraging
trend and this new law will save hundreds of North Carolina children
and families from the horrors of meth labs," said Attorney General
Roy Cooper, who has pushed for tougher anti-meth laws, including
harsher penalties when children are present in meth homes.

But even if fewer people are now making the drug, children continue
to suffer because their parents are getting meth from labs outside the state.