MORE THAN 200 LABS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN STATE THIS YEAR

CONOVER - Tuesday night's methamphetamine lab bust was the first one
in Catawba County this year.

In North Carolina, it was number 203.

The state is on pace to surpass last year's total number of meth busts.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper feels the new "it" drug is
a growing problem.

"I don't want North Carolina to become like states in the Midwest
where they have become overrun by these labs," Cooper said. "North
Carolina already has more methamphetamine labs than any other state
on the East Coast."

The first meth labs were reported in North Carolina in 1999. State
Bureau of Investigation agents discovered nine labs that year. That
number skyrocketed in 2004, with SBI agents shutting down 322 labs.

While Cooper said the entire state faces meth problems, the majority
of the labs are in the western part of the state. In the last six
months, 47 meth labs were found in McDowell County, 25 in Rutherford
County and seven in Burke County.

Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman said the case in Conover is
unusual. Usually the problem in the county is possession of the drug
rather than manufacturing it, Huffman said.

But Huffman said the county is not immune to meth labs. With more
busts in Watauga and McDowell counties, meth manufacturers are likely
moving to Catawba County.

Before the matter in the state gets any worse, Cooper hopes lawmakers
will pass the Meth Lab Prevention Act. The Senate approved the act
April 28. It is under review in the House. Over-the-counter medicines
such as Sudafed contain pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, which are
chemicals used to make meth. If the act passes, people will have to
sign for these medicines.

Similar laws have been passed in at least seven other states. After
Tennessee passed the law a few months ago, it saw meth labs decrease
by 35 percent, Cooper said. He hopes if the act passes in North
Carolina, the state will have similar success.