Meth

COOKING IN THE WOODS

Late last month, the U.S. Forest Service in Region 1, which includes
Montana, circulated an internal safety advisory alerting staff to a
rash of "one-pot" methamphetamine cookers discovered on national
forest lands. The cookers--a cheap and dirty way to manufacture
meth--are volatile and carcinogenic.

"This is the first time such devices have been found in some of our
areas," the Forest Service says. "But the one-pot labs have been
popular in other parts of the country and urban areas and have
apparently made it here."

The one-pot method, dubbed "shake-and-bake," uses cold pills, plastic
tubes, liter soda bottles and a host of chemicals such as
hydrochloric acid to mix up small batches of meth. Shake-and-bake has
been a rising trend for years in other parts of the
country--particularly the southwest. Missoula County Sheriff's
Detective Scott Newell says his office has seen two or three one-pot
cases in the last year. Recently, the Forest Service has found as
many as five one-pots in a single weekend in western Montana,
prompting them to alert state and local officials to the situation.

Forest Service spokesman Phil Sammon says the one-pot cookers are
easily identifiable as they give off a powerful ammonia scent. The
bottles should not be handled, he adds, since acids used in the
meth-making process can cause serious burns. Carcinogens can also
leach into the skin, causing health problems.

"These cookers cost about $1,500 each to clean up," Sammon says.

The Forest Service and other agencies have long noted concerns over
meth manufacturers utilizing the remoteness of the region's forests
for their operations. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Captain
Jeff Darrah says he hasn't noticed any increased activity on state
land recently that's connected to meth cookers. But his officers have
been trained by the Montana Drug Enforcement Agency to handle such
situations, he says. "We're always on the lookout for that."