LAWMEN FIND NEW TOOL IN METH BATTLE: TRAIL OF TRASH

Tossed Wrappings Of Drug's Ingredients Can Lead To Hidden Labs

LOUISVILLE (AP) - The message about methamphetamines was simple for
sheriffs from around the nation who gathered yesterday to exchange ideas
about curbing production: Law enforcement needs help.

"Methamphetamine is not just another drug. It's not just a passing fad that
will be taken over by another," said Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain.
"It's not a law enforcement phenomenon. It's a community problem."

About 700 meth labs have been discovered in Daviess County since 1997, Cain
told about a dozen sheriffs during a session on clandestine meth labs at
the National Sheriffs Association's annual conference.

Sheriffs from across the nation attended the conference, which began
yesterday, to discuss such topics as meth and the ongoing battle with
prescription drug abuse.

At the heart of the meth discussion was seeking easier ways to find labs.
Cain said one of the ways is following trash such as discarded Sudafed
boxes, punctured ether cans and the wrappings of lithium batteries -- all
ingredients used to make meth.

"How many of you ever saw fit to take a battery apart? No one does that
unless you're making methamphetamine," he said. "There is no legitimate
reason to do it."

Because meth is made easily from ingredients found in abundance in rural
communities, manufacturers can produce meth in an array of locations, Cain
said. Law enforcement agencies have found labs in apartments, sheds and
self-storage units.

The ease with which it is made also makes the labs difficult to find, said
Steven Bruce, a sheriff from Polk County, Mo. The distinctive "chemical"
smell associated with labs often isn't enough to lead police to them.

Bruce said deputies in his department have contacted the people who pick up
trash in his county to tell them what to look for and asked them to pull
bags from some locations suspected of housing a hidden lab.

"People who manufacture meth know how to work with chemicals," Bruce said.
"But they're not rocket scientists, and they don't know how to cover their
tracks."

The drug is "cooked" from common ingredients including pseudoephedrine,
found in over-the-counter cold medicines, and anhydrous ammonia, a
fertilizer stored in tanks in rural farm country. The finished drug can be
snorted, injected, inhaled or smoked.

Kentucky State Police seized 604 labs last year and about 250 so far this year.

Meth users accounted for 607,000 of the country's 19.5 million drug users
in 2003, according to the most recent statistics from the Office of
National Drug Control Policy.