METH KIDS

He was a methamphetamine cook in training, living a lifestyle that
eventually would land him in a courtroom or a jailhouse, authorities
said. When he was pulled out of his parents' drug-infested home,
authorities were shocked to learn he could map out the entire
meth-making process, front to back, with accurate diagrams.

They were more shocked to learn he was only 7 years
old.

The boy is just one example of a problem Oklahoma authorities are
struggling to fight: children exposed to the volatile chemicals, and
volatile parents, found inside home-based methamphetamine labs.

"I was frustrated how a 7-year-old knew how to cook dope," Oklahoma
County Assistant District Attorney Nathan Dills said. "That was his
world that he lived in. He thought that was the way things were
supposed to go."

Dills spearheaded the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Drug
Endangered Children program in 2002. The goal is to protect children
subjected to meth labs and crack down on parents who cause it to
happen. Children weren't getting the medical care they needed after
being taken from meth homes, Dills said.

"We discovered that typically law enforcement would have removed that
kid and let them go to a relative or a neighbor until the parents
could get out of jail," he said. "We determined that's not the way we
should be doing things. These kids need to be looked after."

The toxic fumes and chemicals found in a meth lab require law officers
to wear protective suits and air masks. Children who are exposed can
develop asthma, skin irritation, rotting teeth, internal organ damage
and learning disabilities.

"It's one of those things that just frustrates me to no end, that a
parent would do that," Dills said.

In 2003, the district attorney's office filed 75 counts of child
endangerment against Oklahoma County parents who subjected their
children to meth lab conditions. Each charge carries a maximum
four-year prison sentence.

Dangerous drug Methamphetamine production requires a chemical reaction
that can include ingredients such as sinus medicine, battery acid,
fertilizer, ammonia, sulfur and iodine. The process can be dangerous
and the physiological results remarkable.

Addicts crave the prolonged, euphoric highs. The crash that often
follows can leave children parentless for days at a time.

Authorities also worry about the accessibility of the chemicals to
youngsters.

A 7-year-old Claremore boy suffered burns to his mouth, tongue and
esophagus last year when he drank a clear liquid he found in his
mother's refrigerator, thinking it was water. It was lye, a corrosive
chemical used to make soap. Police said the lye was being used for
meth. More than a dozen surgeries later, there's a question whether
the boy's condition will improve enough to allow him to live a normal
life. What authorities know is that the risk is there for many more
children to suffer similar fates.

"What we know," Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said, "is
that in many drug labs, in a very high percentage of meth labs that we
bust, there are children present. These children are essentially
exposed to toxic waste dumps."