STATE POLICE CONDUCTS METH AWARENESS CLASSES IN REGION

ASHLAND - The Kentucky State Police recently conducted a series of classes
in northeastern Kentucky aimed at raising awareness of just how dangerous
it can be to run across a methamphetamine lab.

The classes were in Greenup, Boyd and Carter counties and attended by more
than 100 firefighters, solid waste coordinators and Department of
Community-Based Services case workers, the KSP said.

The instructor was Detective Jon Marshall, a certified meth lab responder
who was a trooper at the Ashland KSP post for 15 years and now works out of
the KSP's Drug Enforcement East Division based in Lexington.

According to Marshall, the classes were designed for those who are
routinely in and out of homes and as a result, may inadvertently discover a
meth lab or the components used to make the highly addictive drug.

The classes stressed precautions people should take to ensure their
personal safety, what components and chemicals are used in meth labs and
who people should call if they think they've identified a lab.

"Above all, we want them to know how to protect themselves in an
environment that may contain highly volatile chemicals," he said.

Marshall also said he believed that awareness was one of the keys to
slowing the spread of meth. If people know what to look for, they are more
likely to report the manufacture of the drug when they see it, he said.

The KSP has been conducting meth lab awareness training around the state
for the past five years, KSP Commissioner Mark Miller said.

"This is an ongoing process, and one that is necessary to help ensure these
workers' safety and give them the knowledge to report suspicious activity,"
he said.

According to Marshall, meth hasn't reached epidemic proportions like it has
in western Kentucky, where it has clogged jails, flooded court systems and
caused untold human misery. Last year, he said, two labs were discovered in
the KSP's Ashland post district - one in Boyd County and one in Lawrence
County.

Statewide, 596 meth labs were discovered in 2004, and through March 1 of
this year, 79 labs had been taken down, the KSP said.

Meth, also known as "crank" or "ice," is a stimulant that can be ingested
by smoking, snorting or injecting it. The drug is manufactured using
over-the-counter cold and allergy tablets containing ephedrine and
pseudophedrine and common household chemicals and solvents.

A bill currently pending in the General Assembly, Senate Bill 63, would
place limits on purchases of tablets containing pseudophedrine and would
also require that those pills be dispensed by a pharmacy or pharmacy
technician. The measure also would require those purchasing the medications
to show identification and sign a log.

Marshall said he thought Senate Bill 63 was a positive first step in
slowing meth production.

Marshall said last month's meth awareness classes were conducted at the
Lloyd Fire Department, the Community-Based Services office in Ashland and
at the Grahn Fire Department. Participants in the classes came from Rowan,
Boyd, Greenup, Carter and Lawrence counties.

Additional sessions are planned for the region, he said.