MARSHALL'S RECORD METH MONTH

County's Drug Agents Find 16 Labs In January.

The number of meth labs discovered in Marshall County hit an all-time high
in January.

Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit Director Rob Savage said that
his department discovered 16 crystal methamphetamine labs last month.

The previous record was 11 labs during one month.

Two Marshall County legislators are planning a bill during this
legislative session, which begins today, that they believe will hinder
the manufacturing of crystal meth.

State Sen. Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove, and Rep. Frank McDaniel,
D-Albertville, are introducing a bill to limit the sale of medicines
that contain ephedrine. Ephedrine, found in some over-the-counter cold
medicines, is one of the ingredients used to make crystal meth.

Judy Miller, director of the Marshall County Legislative Office, said
the bill should be a bit stronger than the one introduced by another
senator last year.

Marshall County already has a group of business people called
Merchants Against Meth who look out for people buying great quantities
of items that can be used to make meth.

Those businesses then report the large purchases to law enforcement.

Among the 16 reported meth labs in January was a lab that exploded in
a house Jan. 21, slightly injuring one man.

The man was charged with manufacturing a controlled substance.