EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ON METH LABS PLANNED THURSDAY

When it comes to methamphetamines, it isn't enough to just say "no."
Methamphetamines pose a life-threatening danger to everyone. The
manufacturing process involves an assortment of toxic chemicals that may
explode unexpectedly. Meth labs set up in rural areas may contaminate the
environment. Those set up in homes, apartments and hotel rooms often
contaminate the rooms with toxins seeping into the carpet, the paint on the
walls and even the blades of ceiling fans.

Lt. Steve Isbell of the Dyersburg Police Department said he heard
about a girl who became ill after her family moved into a rental home.
Hospital tests showed that she had been exposed to unusual toxins and
tests in the home documented high levels of toxins in the carpet and
the ceiling-fan blades. The family later learned that previous tenants
manufactured methamphetamines in the house.

As it is now, landlords and persons selling real estate don't have to
disclose that kind of information to potential tenants or buyers,
Isbell said. That could change. The lieutenant said he'd heard that
state legislators are considering a bill that would require landlords
and sellers to reveal whether the property had ever been used as a
meth lab.

If people are going to protect themselves from dangers like these,
they need to know what to look for and to be observant. The Dyer
County Family and Community Education Clubs, Woodmen of the World and
the Tennessee National Guard are working together to do that.

On Thursday, May 13, they plan to bring a special display to the
Dyersburg Middle School. The National Guard's Counterdrug Unit has
developed a mobile display of items and ingredients commonly used in
the manufacture of methamphetamines.

"Basically, we have a mock simulated meth lab," said Sgt. Rebecca Agee
of the Counterdrug Unit. The items on display were confiscated from
real meth labs in Tennessee, cleaned up and then sealed behind glass
panels.

Dyersburg Middle School students will have an opportunity to tour the
display on Thursday, thanks to a schedule devised by school counselor
Connie Wright.

The public may tour the display between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the
middle school.

Then, at 6 p.m., the National Guard plans to present a PowerPoint
program that describes the dangers of methamphetamines, common
ingredients, psychological effects of the illegal drug and what the
public can do to help fight the problem. Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Holt
and Isbell plan to attend the meeting to answer questions about the
local meth problem.

All of the activities are free and open to the public.

Glynda Campbell, an FCE member and the DMS teacher, said she saw the
presentation during a district FCE meeting in Jackson and was
impressed. So, when Myra Storey of Obion County, the Tennessee FCE
president, encouraged fellow members to help educate people about the
meth problem, the Dyer County FCE members took her up on the challenge.

Woodmen of the World joined the campaign. Frances Sherrill said the
educational program will be the group's "Join Hands Day" activity this
month.

Sheriff Holt said meth labs are a growing problem in Dyer
County.

"As far as the number of cases, I don't know that it ranks No. 1," he
said. "As far as the health problems and everything that goes along
with it, yeah, it is."

Meth labs are often a bigger problem in rural areas, where it may be
easier for drug manufacturers to hide, Holt said.

Some of them don't even bother hiding. After talking to Holt about
meth labs, one Dyer County FCE member suddenly realized that she'd
come dangerously close to a meth lab last year. She said she woke up
one night to the awfulest smell and saw some people in the field next
to her home. She said she shut the windows and tried to go back to
sleep. Now, months later, she realizes that the people in the field
that night were manufacturing meth. If it happens again, she said she
plans to alert the sheriff's department.

Holt said it takes that kind of citizen awareness to battle the meth
problem. He encouraged people to pay attention to what's happening
around them and who's buying potential meth ingredients. He said he
saw a man buy a case of lithium batteries at Wal-Mart one day; lithium
batteries are used in the manufacturing process. People who smell a
strong ammonia aroma should call the police or sheriff's department
immediately; they may be able to catch the manufacturers in the act,
he said.