STATISTICS, POLICE: METH LABS ON THE RISE

It's not just words coming from the mouths of narcotics officers. The
statistics back it up.

The number of methamphetamine labs discovered in Etowah County more than
doubled last year, Etowah County Chief Deputy Todd Entrekin said.

Meth has been a problem for several years, mostly imported from Mexico,
Entrekin said.

But the number of labs producing meth in this area have increased
significantly, he said.

The figures include meth labs which are discovered and require reporting to
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for cleanup, Entrekin said.

That does not count the cases in which people are found with several of the
chemicals used to make the drug, which can lead to charges of manufacturing
meth.

"If we don't call for cleanup, we don't classify it as a lab," he said.

In 2001, two labs requiring cleanup were found by the Etowah County Drug
Task Force in Etowah County, Entrekin said. That number increased to 10 in
2002 and rose to 25 last year, he said.

The task force has already had four meth labs so far this year.

Despite this increase in the number of labs, imported meth from Mexico is
still a bigger problem for the task force than the labs, Entrekin said.

Most of the labs are found in rural areas, probably because people try not
to draw attention to themselves and want to avoid others, Entrekin said.

Gadsden and other cities have not seen as many labs as the county's task
force has seen, but the numbers still are increasing, said Charles Clifton,
Rainbow City's narcotics officer.

Meth is a very powerful stimulant and highly addictive, Clifton said.

Imported meth originally was a bigger problem than labs, but the crackdown
on imported meth has increased the number of people trying to make their
own, Clifton said.

"The imported meth got people hooked and now they're having to make it
themselves," Clifton said.

Sgt. Regina Gartman, with the Gadsden narcotics division, said it seems
they're seeing more and more people trying to make the drug themselves.

Several people who had chemicals to make meth have been arrested and
charged with manufacturing the drug since the law changed more than a year
ago that allows for that, Gartman said.

"Thank goodness the laws have changed," she said.

In a recent arrest, a man bought an inhaler that was flagged as a possible
ingredient at a retail store where he bought it and the police was called.

When officers investigated, it was determined the inhaler was actually the
wrong kind and would not have worked to make the drug, Gartman said. The
man did have other ingredients.

It turns out the man had just gotten out of prison and had been told by
other inmates what to buy to make the drug, she said.

"He said he was going to go home and cook it in the microwave," she said.

The inhaler he had bought would not have allowed him to actually produce
the drug and it probably would not have had a reaction, Gartman said.

A wrong ingredient, however, could have had a devastating effect, she said.

"The wrong items could cause an explosion or a fire or it could produce
deadly fumes," she said. "It's very dangerous. These people are not
chemists anyway."

There are no reports of meth lab explosions in Etowah County that have led
to a death, Entrekin said, but at least one woman was critically burned and
stayed in a Birmingham hospital's burn unit for quite a while.

In most recipes for meth, pseudoephedrine pills are converted to meth by
using various common household items, such as drain opener, fingernail
polish remover, iodine, carburetor cleaner, starter fluid, gas treatments,
kerosene, paint thinner, mineral spirits, rock salt, matches or tile and
grout cleaner.

"It depends on how someone is cooking it as to which ingredients are used,"
Clifton said.

Anyone who has information about meth, a meth lab or other drugs are
encouraged to call the tip lines at Gadsden Police Department, 549-4601 or
the Etowah County Drug Task Force at 543-2893.