COPS ASK FEDS, FARMERS FOR HELP FIGHTING METH

Reprinted from Farm Week magazine with permission of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

Law enforcement officials statewide are looking to federal support and ag
community "partnerships" to deal with a growing and distinctly rural
epidemic: production and distribution of the drug methamphetamine.

According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, "meth" has become
"the most dangerous drug problem of small-town America."

It is easy to make -- many ingredients can be found in and around the home
- -- and the portability of meth production has led to increased trespassing
on and use of farm properties by meth "cooks."

Because anhydrous ammonia is a major component, meth production has led to
widespread thefts from farms and ag suppliers. Further, Champaign County
Sheriff Dan Walsh noted reports that some cooks now are adding an ag
herbicide as well to their recipe.

Walsh told FarmWeek the problem has "mushroomed" in Illinois over the past
year: The Illinois State Police (ISP) reported some 971 meth labs were
identified in 2003.

Effingham Police Department drug investigator Tony Stephens, whose
sister-in-law, Effingham County Farm Bureau manager Julie Stephens, helped
mount an anhydrous antitheft campaign, said that in Effingham's outlying
areas, anhydrous suppliers are "getting hit every night, sometimes twice."

Walsh reported that "if (fertilizer) plant No. 1 gets hit three times in a
row, and we sit on it, (thieves) go to plant No. 2."

Sheer manpower thus may be one of the most crucial elements in cracking
down on meth production.

Master Sgt. Bruce Liebe, ISP clandestine lab program coordinator, said
$295,196 in new U.S. Justice Department funds would be used to provide his
agency with overtime pay as well as global positioning, safety, and other
gear necessary to seize and dismantle labs.

"But a big help from an enforcement aspect would be partnerships created
with the agricultural community, the general citizenry, and with
merchants," he said.

"By creating awareness and partnerships, we get a lot of information that
leads into meth lab investigations and seizures."

Officers not only must seize and secure meth production facilities but also
arrange for U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency-contracted cleanup of
manufacturing wastes.

As part of the production process, the cook uses a hydrogen chloride gas
generator that leaves behind residues that can injure farmers or police and
can even contaminate nearby water supplies.

Police agencies that fail to use federally prescribed procedures and
trained personnel to clean up lab sites must shoulder hefty cleanup costs.
Even then, average costs for cleaning up a site run about $3,500, and law
enforcement agencies are charged only with clearing "gross contamination"
- -- i.e., removing production equipment and materials.

The owner of a property used for meth production is left with the
responsibility for costs incurred by any resulting contamination or
destruction to property.

In the Midwest, such damage often is minimal because manufacturers normally
cook relatively small batches.

On the positive side, meth manufacturers or their suppliers who are injured
while stealing anhydrous by law cannot sue producers or farm chemical dealers.

Some cooks now use red phosphorus, the material found on a match head, as
an anhydrous alternative, said Champaign County's Walsh. Both forms of
production are prone to fire or explosion and exposure to either chemical
can result in serious health problems.

To make matters worse, phosgene gas produced from phosphorous is odorless,
tasteless, and "extremely poisonous," Liebe said.