CLEANUP OF METH LABS COSTING TAXPAYERS MILLIONS, DEA SAYS

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Taxpayers have a big stake in the growing popularity
of methamphetamine: the cost of cleaning up after people who get caught
making the synthetic stimulant, usually in rural areas.

While city dwellers are typically far removed from the human cost -
children exposed to the toxic vapors of household chemicals and the hazard
of fires and explosions while they are cooking - the national average cost
of cleaning up each lab is $3,280.

In Tennessee alone, Drug Enforcement Agency records show that 525 labs were
seized in the first six months of fiscal 2003, 724 the previous year, 630
in fiscal 2001 and 236 in fiscal 2000.

Using the national average, those cleanups - by hired crews wearing
hazardous materials protection suits - cost the government $6.9 million.
DEA spokesman Will Glaspy said Congress gave the agency $20 million last
year for state and local agencies to clean up methamphetamine labs that are
found in home kitchens, backyard sheds and even motel rooms.

"Not only do you have the problem of the drug use and drug addiction but
the problem of the clandestine lab itself," Glaspy said. "You've got issues
with kids being in labs . . . people pouring this stuff out. You've got
contamination issues that you don't necessarily have with drugs imported
into the country."

DEA special agent David Shelton said Wednesday at a meeting of the
Southeast Tennessee Council on Children and Youth that "our tax dollars"
are footing the cost to clean up the labs. He said owners of property where
labs are discovered are notified "there may be residual chemicals" that are
their responsibility.

Shelton said he was unsure if follow-up tests are conducted after cleanups
of contaminated property to detect potentially life-threatening residues,
such as phosphine.

He said chemicals used to make methamphetamine - including red phosphorous
from matchbook striking plates, ephedrine from cold tablets and fuel line
antifreeze - can be purchased in stores and by mail order. He said some
retailers have started notifying law enforcement agencies about suspicious
purchases of such items.

Asst. U.S. Atty. Paul Laymon described the drug-making in southeastern
Tennessee, northwestern Georgia and northeastern Alabama as "primarily a
Caucasian phenomenon." He said there are also "large, organized Mexican and
Cuban drug gangs" transporting large quantities of methamphetamine to the
region.

He told the dozens of social services, child protection, courts, health and
law enforcement agency employees that some users say the drug initially is
an aphrodisiac, reduces appetite and boosts energy. He said some users say
it keeps them awake for up to two weeks at a time. Users quickly become
addicted and become paranoid and develop sores.

Odorous vapors from cooking - sometimes on kitchen stoves - the hazardous
chemicals cause respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, rashes and sores.
Exposure can cause loss of consciousness and even death, and the labs
sometimes explode and burn.

Long-term meth use can create paranoia and hallucinations.

State records show Tennessee child protective services took custody of more
than 600 children from parents involved with methamphetamine since the
start of 2002, also mostly in rural communities.

Tennessee's first statewide methamphetamine conference is scheduled for
Dec. 1-3 in Nashville.

Glaspy said an eastward migration of methamphetamine is continuing since it
first turned up decades ago in California. He said a DEA agent was recently
shot in Philadelphia in a case involving the drug.

"We're hoping that it doesn't" become a problem in major cities, he said.
"We are monitoring it closely