BAXTER CITIZENS HEAR OF DANGERS OF METH

"We're blessed that this county takes the threat seriously. The business
community, the city governments, law enforcement are all trying to get a
handle on this epidemic," Deputy Investigator J.R. Scott told about 35
people at the Baxter City Hall last Friday. He was talking about the
struggle going on countywide to lessen the growing numbers of people in the
area who are getting hooked on methamphetamine.

"A lot of counties are not able to fight this because they don't have enough
officers or people willing to get involved," he said.

"Unfortunately, even with a community on the alert, we're losing the battle.
I'll have four or seven cases on my desk to be investigated in the morning
and by afternoon there will 14 more," he said.

"In the last four years the number of meth labs has grown about 600 percent.
We didn't know what meth was four years ago. Now we have three deputies
working full time on it."

Scott was talking to the Baxter residents as part of a $190,000
four-year-federal grant, administered by the state, to educate the public
about the dangers of methamphetamine.

"It's only by educating the public that we're going to make any headway on
this," Scott said.

For nearly two hours Scott and Betsy Dunn from the Dept. of Childrens
Services explained the dangers of methamphetamine, especially the volatile
nature of both the user and the preparation of the drug.

"Meth creates paranoia. Users will be calm one minute and will hurt you the
next," Scott said.

He told of arresting one woman who weighed about 110 pounds. Scott said the
lady first threw some meth at him and then fought him and other deputies
off.

"I weigh 280 lbs and I wasn't strong enough to handcuff her. It took four of
us and she continued to fight until she broke her wrist," he said.

For investigators of meth labs, even the investigation of a home where meth
has been cooked up can be dangerous.

Scott told of one deputy who went into such a home. When she bent down to
check under the bed she passed out from the fumes.

"Phosphorus gas sinks. It's heavier than air. We know now to keep upright
and as high above the floor as we can," he said.

The labs are so filled with toxic waste, one pound of meth results in five
to six pounds of dangerous waste. Clean up requires a specialized crew that
knows how to handle the lethal substances.

"It can cost from $2,500 to $500,000 to dispose of that residue. And the
feds are saying that they can't continue to pick up the tab on this.

"There will be trickle down effect to local governments. Eventually
everything from school budgets to police budgets will be impacted by the
expense of handling meth," Scott said.

"Dr. Sullivan Smith (the director of the ER at Cookeville Regional Medical
Center and one of the consultants for the meth investigations) said that
there are two things you'll never find in a meth lab -- cockroaches and
rats.

"I've never seen an insect of any kind in a lab," he said.

Scott also mentioned the seven year life expectancy for people who have
become addicted to meth.

"If we could stop everyone from trying the drug who is in the sixth grade
now, in seven years we'll be free of this problem. By that time anyone who
has been using meth will be dead," he said.

"There are no rehab programs for meth that work, with some notable
exceptions in some of the churches. Hospitals can't help. You can send
someone to a mental hospital, but when they're turned loose they go right
back."

According to Putnam County Detective Greg Whittaker who also works on
methamphetamine cases, one of the major problems with the drug epidemic is
that users don't want to stop using,

"Until they're ready to give up the drug no one can help them, and even
those who try don't always succeed," Whittaker said.

The recidivism rate for meth users is 97 percent.

Scott criticized the weak laws in Tennessee that just lightly tap the wrists
of meth producers and users.

"There were 27 laws that would have affected the sale of meth and the
punishment of producers of meth that went before the state House of
Representatives this year. Not one of them was looked at by the legislators.

"The judges can only do what the laws say. No law in Tennessee is directed
only at meth. Only the federal laws have any punch," he said.

"It's fantastic that all the cities in Putnam County have meth ordinances.
We're finding we can track the meth producers more because of them. It used
to be that a producer could go into one store and buy a few of the chemicals
needed to make meth. Then go to another store and buy a few more of the same
item. And then go to a third, and so on.

"Now they have to sign up each time they buy items containing the chemicals.
We've been able to follow them and track them down," he said.

Scott suggested that people interested in fighting the meth presence in
Putnam County should write to the governor to express their concerns. In
addition, he suggested that people call the meth hot line (931- 525-meth or
525-6384) if they think someone is producing the drug.

Those interested in signing a petition requesting mandatory and more strict
sentencing for drug producers can find them at various churches in town as
well as at the Cookeville Co-op on Spring Street.