STATE REPORT TARGETS TAKEDOWN OF LABS

The North Carolina Methamphetamine Summit has released its preliminary
report and the findings and recommendations will be presented to the
General Assembly for action.

The summit, convened by N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper, was made up of
more than 200 policymakers; business leaders; local, state and federal law
enforcement representatives and instructors; non-profit, health and
political figures.

The report and findings will ask the General Assembly to take steps to stem
the tide of a problem cresting in the mountains and rolling east to break
on the beaches of the Outer Banks.

Watauga County currently holds the state record at close to 25 percent of
the 177 meth labs busted in 2003. Sheriff Mark Shook said that this is by
no means a mountain problem. He has said that if a county in the state has
not reported a meth lab bust it is because they haven't found them yet.

The full preliminary report of the N.C. Methamphetamine Summit may be found
online by clicking the head "Important News" at: www.jus.state.nc.us In
brief, the report contains the following findings:

In general

. Meth labs pose significant dangers to the public, the environment, and
first responders.

. Each lab produces a toxic waste site, and the labs frequently explode or
cause fires.

. Prosecutors and law enforcement officers have described how the
proliferation of meth labs has strained the resources of the sheriff's
department, the social services department and local prosecutors.

Specific Findings:

. State laws are insufficient. Law enforcement and prosecutors have had a
hard time getting active prison time for meth manufacturers. Under current
state law, meth manufacturers who have no past criminal record generally
receive a suspended sentence with probation.

. Current state law provides stiffer penalties for those who sell meth than
for those who actually manufacture it.

. Meth is cheap and easy to make. It produces a large profit margin for
those who sell it.

. In 2003, approximately 25 percent of North Carolina homes with meth labs
were found to have children residing in them.

. The meth problem will overwhelm our ability to respond if steps are not
taken. This fast-growing illegal drug problem has already stressed our
resources, but it has the potential to overwhelm North Carolina's
judiciary, law enforcement, social services and public health facilities.

. Meth differs from drugs like marijuana, heroin and cocaine because the
very production of the drug causes severe environmental damage. Meth cooks
frequently dump the toxic by-products of their work into sewer systems, in
the state's waters or along roadsides. The production of one pound of meth
creates five to seven pounds of hazardous waste. The average cost to
taxpayers to clean up a lab runs between $4,000 to $10,000.

. Contaminated belongings must be destroyed and replaced. A child must go
through a decontamination process. Sometimes a child must be placed in
foster care because they must be removed from their home. In Tennessee some
five hundred children have been placed in foster care in the past few years.

. Public awareness about the meth problem remains low. Unique groups
involved - retailers, farmers, realtors, physicians, social services, even
many law enforcement officers - don't know how to identify a meth lab and
are uninformed about the dangers of making and using the drug.

. More than 400 local law enforcement officials and detectives have been
trained at three-day workshops that teach them how to manage meth
investigations.

. Cooper announced grants to Watauga, Ashe, Johnston and Harnett counties,
four of the counties that have been among the hardest hit by meth. The
grants will make medical screenings available for children found at meth
labs and will provide additional funds needed for social service workers
and law enforcement officers.

The lessons learned from these four counties will be used to develop a
statewide protocol for treating children who have been exposed to meth
manufacturing.

Recommendations

. Enhance penalties for the manufacture of methamphetamine. The General
Assembly should also enhance the criminal penalty when a child is present
or otherwise endangered by exposure to meth.

. Stiffen penalties for possession of precursor chemicals.

. Enhance penalties for providers of methamphetamine when a fatal overdose
occurs. The General Assembly should consider adding methamphetamine to the
list of controlled substances that can trigger a charge of second-degree
murder when the provided drug causes an overdose death.

. Educate the public about the growing meth problem. The Attorney General
should coordinate a statewide awareness campaign using informational videos
and materials to highlight the impact of the meth problem on children, the
environment and taxpayers. The awareness campaign should include the
development of a web site to provide the public with information about
meth. The State should also mail pamphlets about the meth problem and the
statewide awareness campaign to community organizations, churches, and
local agencies.

. Work with retail merchants to monitor and limit the sale of precursor
chemicals.

. Train targeted individuals to recognize the signs of a meth lab. Farmers,
garbage collectors, hotel and motel workers, landlords and others should be
educated about the meth problem and trained in how to detect possible meth
labs.

. Convene a conference to develop and disseminate technical assistance to
social service agencies. Social workers need more information and tools to
fight the battle against meth.

. Develop an appropriate medical protocol. The medical community needs to
be trained to respond to individuals who have been exposed to chemical
contamination from meth labs.

. Support the development of statewide guidelines for the decontamination
and re-occupancy of meth lab sites. Currently the state has no standard
plan of action governing reuse of structures that have been associated with
meth labs. The state should support the development of decontamination and
re-occupancy guidelines that are being drafted by the North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services.