A METH LAB COULD BE OPERATING NEXT DOOR; COST IS HIGH

Governor Phil Bredesen is making a needed and strong attack to combat the
state's pollution of methamphetamine labs.

As most have read, the drug is cheap, easy to make and highly addictive.

Many aspects of the scourge will be even more difficult to deal with.

Prosecutors and police officers dealing with the problem of repeat offenders
say the biggest contributing factor is their right to get out of jail on
bond while awaiting trial.

Tom Farmer, a Hamilton County officer who works with a regional task force,
said some addicts are still high when they are released from jail and they
return to ``using and cooking dope.''

The bonding issue is the single most difficult issue in all of this. Likely
any solution would be held unconstitutional as an invasion of the rights of
the meth makers and users.

Bail bonds are a constitutional right for any criminal offender.

McMinn County Sheriff's Department records show that since 2002, John Roland
Malone, 52, has four meth-related arrests. Some charges were for cooking
meth and others were for possessing chemicals used to make it.

Malone, was freed on a $50,000 bond in December, one month after being freed
on a $20,000 bond in another meth arrest. The judge felt as did others that
the $50,000 bond was high but hoped it would help the situation.

But the problem doesn't stop there.

Federal officials say there is no consensus on how to handle the drug's
toxic byproducts.

Experts say little is known about how long meth-related contamination lasts,
how best to clean it up and how toxic byproducts affect people on or near
polluted sites.

The process of cooking meth, often in clandestine labs in homes, cars or
trailers, can leave behind a hazardous coating on the walls, floors and
ventilation systems. In addition, every pound of meth cooked creates between
four and six pounds of toxic waste that the makers often dump elsewhere.

Seven states have developed guidelines for cleaning a contaminated property,
but they range from airing out the site and washing it with household
cleaners to conducting detailed assessments to determine the level of
contamination.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Tennessee now accounts for
more than 75 percent of the seizures of meth labs. In 2004, there were 1,279
such seizures of equipment and dump sites, more than twice as many as two
years earlier.

In Kentucky, the meth problem took root and grew fastest in poor, rural
areas. The number of lab seizures multiplied from 104 in 2000 to 579 in
2004.

But that's not all.

Meth takes a toll on children who can be pulled from homes with meth labs
and forced to leave behind clothes, toys and other potentially contaminated
items.

Officials estimate that 700 Tennessee children were put into foster homes
last year because of meth-related incidents at a cost of $4 million to the
state.

Meth is cheap and it's deadly.

Don't rest assured that you won't be affected. If you live in an apartment
or other shared housing, it would pay to keep your eyes and ears (and nose)
open because you could suffer from a meth lab next door.