METH LABS ARE GROWING PROBLEM

Program educates pharmacists on common products used to make methamphetamine

SALISBURY - Most people wouldn't think much of someone buying a bunch of
Sudafed cold capsules.

But in the right hands, that common product can make methamphetamine.

Local businesses and police officers are looking to cut that supply to drug
makers with Rowan County Meth Watch.

The program targets Rowan County, but can be used by residents in Cabarrus
County, where two meth labs were discovered in 2002.

Program representatives held a news conference Tuesday at the F & M Trolley
Barn to discuss how businesses can help.

Be aware

Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said pharmacy employees should be aware
of what customers purchase.

He said when people purchase large quantities of Sudafed, lithium batteries
and matchbooks, employees should suspect a possible methamphetamine
producer.

The ingredients are common in methamphetamine, a drug that stimulates the
central nervous system and is referred to as "speed."

Wilhelm said employees shouldn't detain customers, but should get a
description of them and their vehicle. They should also write down the time
and date the items were purchase and give that information to police
officers.

Then officers can investigate whether the ingredients are indeed for a meth
lab.

Meth labs, or chemical labs, are used to "cook up" the drugs.

The State Bureau of Investigation reported that in 2001 only 34 meth labs
were busted. That rose to 177 in 2003.

Larry Smith, assistant director for the SBI, said so far this year they've
already busted 130 meth labs.

"That's a sign of how much it's growing," he said.

And it appears that meth labs could be on the increase locally, said SBI
Special Agent Van Shaw.

In Rowan County, there have been two meth labs discovered this year and
there were six reported last year, Shaw said.

Cabarrus County

So far, Cabarrus County has only had the two Concord cases reported in 2002.

Few meth labs have been found in Cabarrus, but Sheriff Brad Riley said
suspects tried to steal chemicals used in producing methamphetamine on at
least four occasions in 2003.

The four cases occurred at the La Roche Industries Inc. chemical plant,
which is located on Speedrail Court in Concord.

Riley said he's not surprised deputies have seen more cases of people
searching for methamphetamine ingredients.

He said with the increased protection of the American borders, it's made it
difficult for drug dealers to transport cocaine and other drugs from abroad.

"People are forced to come up with ways to domesticate drugs and that's one
way of doing it," he said.

Common household items found at a department and hardware store are used to
make the drug. For $100, a person can produce $1,000 worth of
methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Web
page.

According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, more than 9
million, or 4.3 percent of the U.S. population, reported trying
methamphetamine on at least one occasion in their lives.

Shaw said that in Tennessee alone there were 800 meth lab busts last year.

The human cost

With the constant rise of meth labs, those producing the drug are not the
only ones affected.

Many of the chemicals used are flammable and explosive.

Children living with their families at meth labs can be burned by the
chemicals.

And now firefighters can run the risk of entering a meth lab without even
realizing it.

Darien South learned that himself after working as a volunteer for the
Watauga County Fire Department.

On Jan. 26, 2003, he responded to a mobile home fire, unaware that it was
being used as a meth lab.

He and others put out the blaze. With the flames and smoke extinguished, he
and the firefighters took off their special breathing masks to inspect the
damage.

That's when they noticed heat coming from a crawl space, South said at
Tuesday's news conference.

He opened door to the crawl space and was exposed to the vapors inside,
which began to burn his lungs.

"I began to choke up huge amounts of blood; I couldn't breathe," he said.
"It felt like somebody picked an axe up and split my head wide open."

South said he couldn't remember much about his time at the hospital after he
was loaded in an ambulance.

"The only thing I would remember for the next four days was to hear them
tell the driver, 'Go,'" South said.

The damage cost South 45 percent of his lung capacity and he often struggles
to breathe.

His mother, Mary South, said South's wife lays awake at nights watching her
husband as he sleeps wearing an oxygen mask.

She's "waiting to make sure that next breath will come," she said.

Darien South said the damage done to him has changed his life.

All because of a group of people taking common household items and making
them into drugs.

"These people have no regard for human life," South said. "I'm living proof
of it."