CHIEF WORRIES ABOUT DRUG IN HARTSELLE

(Hartselle) - It's an addict's dream.

A cheap drug cooked at home and as plentiful as Southern
sunshine.

But the addict's dream is law enforcement's nightmare.
Methamphetamine, narcotics investigators say, is the street drug of
choice for most addicts.

"It's cheap, it's easy to make and it has no boundaries," Hartselle
Police Chief Ron Puckett said.

That's right. No boundaries.

Even Hartselle, a small town that more resembles Mayberry than the
slums and ghettos of a big city, is not immune to the epidemic.

Already this year, Hartselle police have discovered seven meth
labs.

Puckett is not surprised at the number, but he is concerned because
the arrests have been in every part of the city.

"This stuff is dangerous not only to the people making it, but for the
people living around the homes where it is being made," Puckett said.

"There are probably more (meth laboratories) that we have not
discovered," he said.

"It's an epidemic," Sgt. Justin Barley added.