GALLEGHER CHARGES METH LABS AS TERRORIST THREAT TO FLORIDA

Florida's Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Tom Gallagher
Monday declared methamphetamine labs a domestic terrorist threat to
Florida's first responders and citizens.

Gallagher's initiatives are intended to protect law enforcement officers,
firefighters and emergency response personnel from the dangers they face
when making arrests or investigating fires and explosions at illegal
methamphetamine labs.

"The criminals who make meth are the equivalent to the makers of any
terrorist bomb anywhere in the world," Gallagher said. "These labs are a
threat to the lives of first responders as they try to keep us safe and win
the war on drugs. Methamphetamine addiction is a high-level threat to our
communities, tearing apart families and destroying lives."

Gallagher is joining forces with Commissioner Guy Tunnell, director of the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to promote specialized training on
meth labs to fight back against a disturbing and rapidly rising trend.

A recent survey by the Drug Enforcement Administration indicated that the
number of meth labs found in Florida jumped from 28 in 2001 to 332 in 2004.

"These clandestine laboratories are a threat to the environment, a hazard to
our communities, and a danger to the officers who seize them," Tunnell said.
"This integrated training effort is another important step in Florida's
fight against meth."

Law enforcement officers and firefighters face risks every time they respond
to a call, Gallagher said. "But meth labs are an especially insidious risk
because they are concealed in homes, sheds, motel rooms and even vehicles.
Our first responders have no warning they are entering into a potentially
fatal situation."

Detectives with the Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations, a law
enforcement branch of the State Fire Marshal's Office, recently responded to
a meth lab near Fort Walton Beach that was booby-trapped with more than two
dozen wired pipe bombs.

The chemicals used to make meth are highly flammable accelerants that can
explode and turn a small fire into an inferno in an instant. The State Fire
Marshal's Office has responded to fires and explosions at 29 meth labs in
the last three years.

As a result of these experiences, the State Fire Marshal's Office is
providing free training for first responders later this month on how to
identify, investigate and dismantle labs used to manufacture
methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine is manufactured using common household products,
particularly over-the-counter cold medicines containing ephedrine.

The Legislature passed a measure this year restricting the sale of
over-the-counter products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The
legislation also provides minimum mandatory sentences for those who expose
children to the hazards of a meth lab, adds new penalties for meth lab
operators who injure law enforcement officers responding to labs, and
enhances safety guidelines for the storage and transportation of anhydrous
ammonia, another chemical commonly used in the manufacture of meth.

Gallagher applauded the Legislature for these strong measures and said he
would ask next year that lawmakers extend criminal penalties for injuries to
firefighters and other response personnel incurred while responding to
emergencies involving meth labs.

Methamphetamine produces a more potent and longer-lasting high than crack
cocaine, and the manufacture, distribution and use of methamphetamine is on
the rise throughout Florida.

According to FDLE statistics, the greatest concentrations of meth labs are
found in the Panhandle and Central Florida.

Exact figures on first responder injuries and deaths are hard to collect.
According to recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), injuries and deaths for first responders dealing with
clandestine meth labs are on the rise.

Methamphetamine-related events recorded by the Hazardous Substances
Emergency Events Surveillance system increased from 184 in 2000 to 320 in
June, 2004, totaling 1,791 events in the 16 states, including Florida.

The DEA reported more than 13,000 seizures of meth lab and meth lab
materials in 2003 alone.