UNION AUTHORITIES LEARNING HOW TO DEAL WITH METH LABS

Both The Drug Itself And The Places It's Made Pose Hazards To Public Safety

Local law enforcement authorities held methamphetamine training this week,
learning how to handle a dangerous drug that has suddenly appeared in Union
County.

The Union County Sheriff's Office, county fire marshal and State Bureau of
Investigation hosted two days of sessions on how to recognize clandestine
meth labs, and how officers can protect themselves if they find one. Law
enforcement officers have been hospitalized after discovering meth labs in
homes and even pulling a car over and opening the trunk, and inhaling
dangerous fumes.

The labs are full of potentially fatal chemicals and gases (like ammonia)
and require extensive cleanup; many meth labs are only discovered because
they explode. The sheriff's office brochure inviting area officers to
attend the sessions reminded them that neighbors of meth production sites
were at risk.

Earlier this spring, the sheriff's office hosted a training on meth labs,
suspecting it was only a matter of time before a lab would be found in the
county.

The drug has long been associated with the N.C. mountains, where it can be
produced out of sight (and smell), but authorities in other counties in the
Charlotte region have recently been finding a handful of labs. A few people
in Anson County were recently arrested for possessing the drug.

Within weeks of that first training session, the county's first lab was
discovered in April. In the past three months, four labs have been found.

"We felt fortunate that we didn't have a problem" with meth manufacturing,
Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said after the first lab was found. "But
we knew it was coming. Now we have proof that it's here."

So far, the four labs discovered have been in eastern Union. Cathey said he
suspected people were running the drug over to Anson County.

The drug's staggering spread across the state has given law enforcement
cause for concern: Three years ago, 42 clandestine meth labs were found in
the state, mostly in the rural N.C. mountains and South Carolina's Upstate.
In 2004, law enforcement said it uncovered 304 labs.

Methamphetamine is a stimulant that releases high levels of dopamine into
the brain, giving people highs some claim last hours, if not days. It also
leads to paranoia, violence and physical decay, such as rotting teeth.