COMMISSION HEARS ABOUT METH

Members of the Franklin County Commission received some eye opening
information during their regular meeting Monday on the methamphetamine
problem here.

Franklin County Sheriff's Drug Investigator Mike Bell, who is one of three
people that started cleaning up chemicals allegedly used in the production
of methamphetamines in 1995, gave the commissioners the history of how the
drugs started to show up here.

He told the commissioners that the problem spread from the West Coast to
the Mississippi River and stopped. But one of the alleged "cookers got
caught and decided that since he had family living in Lincoln County, that
he could move back to Tennessee and no one would bother them." Another one
was a truck driver who was traveling to the West Coast and decided to set
up shop in Grundy County. Bell explained that he later moved to Franklin
County and started to teach other people how to cook the deadly brew. "The
problem has continued to grow since then," Bell explained. He added that in
2001, the federal government spent $66,000 to clean up the illegal labs.
"In 2003, we had 59 labs here and it cost the federal government $177,000
to clean up the chemicals," Bell stated. He added that as of March 20, the
Federal Drug Enforcement Agency figures show that 20 labs have been found
here in Franklin County and the federal government has paid $60,000 to
clean up those labs. Bell let each commissioner set the pseudoephedrine
pills that are used in the production of the drug. He added that the
ingredients used can often be "found in most any home of the county." But
he said that most people don't purchase the large quantities of the
chemicals for home usage. Most of the commissioners stated after Bell's
presentation that they appreciated his taking time to inform them about the
problem. After the meeting, many of the commissioners expressed surprise of
the chemicals involved in the production of the drug. "I think more people
need to learn about how dangerous this problem really is," Commissioner
Barbara Finney said. "I was surprised at the number of people involved with
this drug," Commissioner Jean Snead stated. "I just hope something can be
done to curb the sale of the ingredients and hopefully curb the production
of the drugs," Commissioner Hogan McDonald stated.

Bell said Wednesday that he applauds the renewed effort of the state
legislature to curb the sell of more than three packages of the
over-the-counter cold tablets containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.
Earlier this year, lawmakers State Sen. Jerry Cooper and Rep. Judd Matheny
were leading the way in trying to come up with a comprehensive meth bill,
but were unable to reach consensus on the measure. Instead, Gov. Phil
Bredesen is to appoint a meth task force, which will present its
recommendation by Sept. 1.