THE SIGNS DON'T LIE ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF METH IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Samuel Adams, one of the great leaders of the American Revolution once
said, "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of
servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from
us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and
lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you
and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

I believe that this quote fits the situation in which we find
ourselves as a community in relation to the epidemic that is
methamphetamine.

Adams was speaking to incite his fellow colonials to action, to drive
them in their efforts to liberate themselves from a foreign oppressor.

Our community also faces oppression, but it isn't in the form of a
foreign nation, but a foreign entity or substance, if you will,
methamphetamine.

As a community we have but two simple choices regarding what we will
do collectively in response to meth's invasion of our homes and families.

The first choice, and the one being exercised by some citizens in our
community (knowingly or not), is to turn a blind eye to the problem
and allow it to run rampant, leaving broken families and eventually
communities in its wake. This point of view is akin to allowing
yourself to being shackled by an oppressor. You may not feel all that
oppressed at any certain time but over the course of time you are
affected, nonetheless.

The second choice regarding our communities' stance on methamphetamine
is to stand and doggedly fight it until it is pushed into oblivion.
Ideally, this is the stance that would be taken by all members of our
community that have the welfare of their fellow man in mind.

Whether you realize it or not, we as a collective community have the
power to affect positive change in the battle against
methamphetamine.

At this point, one might ask how they can contribute to this
communities' battle against meth. There are several ways which I will
commense to enumerate.

First of all there are the obvious indicators, rumors concerning a
meth lab in the area, bad or unfamiliar smells, odd calling times,
night owls and unusual traffic in your area. If you are experiencing
anything akin to this in your neighborhood, it should raise your suspicion.

Secondly, if you notice someone taking out excessive quantities of
trash (i.e. more and different types of trash that seem usual), it
could be a sign that this neighbor is running a meth lab.

Some items to watch for in the trash are: large quantites of cold
tablet containers (i.e. sudafed, etc.), jars containing clear liquid
with a white-colored solid caked to the bottom, coffee filters
containing a white pasty substance (or dark red sludge or small
quantities of shiny white crystals), bottles or jars with rubber
tubing attached, glass cookware or frying pans containing a powdery
residue, numerous cans of camping fuel, industrial chemicals and
cleaning products, large amounts of batteries or propane tanks.

The next question that needs to be addressed is what should be done
once your suspicion has been aroused as to the possible presence of a
meth lab.

First of all stay far away from the suspect location. Do not enter the
location as meth labs constitute a toxic environment that is very
volatile. Handling chemicals or equipment can cause the chemicals used
for the drug to combust. Be sure to warn other neighbors of your
suspicion. This will keep your neighbors safe, thereby further
protecting the community from any inadvertent encounters with an
environment that could destroy their health. Diligent neighborhood
watch programs would also serve to help community members police their
vicinity. This would serve two purposes. The first would be to
increase the presence in your locality of law abiding citizens with a
staked interest in keeping their community free from meth. The second
benefit provided by a neighborhood watch would be the providing of a
structure in a community with which local law enforcement officials
could readily communicate. Thus if police or sheriff's department
deputies were looking for a vehicle or person known to them as a meth
user, cooker or dealer they could alert neighborhood watch leaders,
who could in turn pass the description on to their organization
thereby increasing the chances that the suspect is
apprehended.

Finally call your local police department. In Tennessee you can call
the Meth Hotline at 1-877-TNN-METH.

Even if you are absolutely sure of the presence of meth or a meth lab
in your community, your only job as a citizen is to phone the police
and let them know of your suspicions. After that, it is up to the
police to handle the situation.

It is my personal belief that education is the first step to
recognizing methamphetamine problems in our community.

In educating myself concerning the nature of this evil epidemic that
exists in our community, I have attempted to inform the community
concerning the dangers meth wields against us every day.

Meth's presence touches everyone in our community, whether or not
there is a functioning lab next door to your house. Many meth cooks
dump the toxic by products of their poison onto the ground, but it
doesn't stay there. No, these chemicals seep into our water supply and
are so noxious that not all of them can be filtered out by our water
filtration system. Fighting meth costs us taxpayer dollars as we
citizens are forced to pay for the defense of suspects in meth cases,
pay for the medical bills of inmates that have ravaged their health by
using meth, pay for dental bills for these same people, pay money to
jail them, and sadly the list goes on and on. So we are all affected
by meth, whether or not we use it, cook it or have any involvement
with it.

Don't you think its time we did something about meth instead of
sitting by and watching it rob our of burgeoning community of so much
of its potential and beauty?

. . . W. Alan Beckelheimer is a Crossville Chronicle staffwriter. His
column appears each Wednesday in the Chronicle.