METH LABS: COUNTING THE COST

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said that Watauga County is at
"ground zero" in the statewide battle against the manufacture and
distribution of methamphetamine. He said that 116 meth labs had been
discovered in the state and 24 of those were in Watauga County. The State
Bureau of Investigation (SBI) representative raised that number to 118 with
two raids planned for later this week.

If the county is the primary battleground, then the point of the
spear in that battle was present at the Fairfield Inn Tuesday
afternoon to discuss the situation and begin the planning for the
battle strategy. They came armed with pictures of meth labs and
examples of "cooking" equipment and supplies.

In a packed meeting room before 125 people, Cooper, Watauga County
Sheriff Mark Shook, SBI Director Robin Pendergraft, Clandestine
Laboratory Response Team Coordinator Van Shaw and team member and
chemist Ann Hamlin opened the eyes of a number of county residents
who, by their questions and comments, knew methamphetamine as little
more than a word.

The panel, introduced and hosted by Joedy Eller, chair of the Boone
Area Chamber of Commerce, explained the manufacturing process, the
ingredients and the dangers of "meth."

Eller started the panel discussion with a declaration of war. "We're
not going to tolerate meth labs in the county. We want them out of
here. Today we are drawing a line in the sand." Shook followed. "This
is the problem that can take this county and this state to its knees,"
he said, and highlighted the dangers in the manufacturing of meth to
everyone touched by the drug.

Panel members noted the risks to everyone from the "cooks" who make
the volatile, toxic, flammable and highly addictive chemical to the
cook's families in the lab home. In addition to the lab dangers,
neighbors are at risk from fire, explosions and toxic
by-products.

Those immediately involved and nearby innocent bystanders are at risk,
but all of the panel members emphasized the risks and dangers to
firefighters, police and emergency personnel responding to either an
arrest or an incident. Shaw said that 18 police and firefighters had
been injured in the last 18 months and said that many meth labs are
discovered when emergency personnel respond to a fire or explosion.

Pendergraft said, "A meth lab is a hazardous site when you get there
and a hazardous waste site when you are done." She said that homes
used for meth often are so contaminated with the by-products of
manufacturing that nothing, from clothing to children's toys, can be
removed by the owners and the property owners, often innocent
landlords, are left with a hazardous waste dump to clean or condemn,
compliments of criminal tenants.

A good deal of the panel discussion dealt with the manufacturing
ingredients. All of the panelists said that a quick trip through any
large, general retail store would procure the materials necessary to
manufacture meth. Unlike waiting for a shipment of drugs from the
cocaine fields of South America, any kitchen and common household
items and products could create a batch of meth and law enforcement
officials have discovered that each "meth cook" typically teaches five
others and shares the recipe.

The manufacturing process combines parts of toxic ingredients with
ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to create meth. The source of ephedrine
is most common, over-the-counter cold medications like Sudafed and
Suphedrine cold capsules.

Shaw and Hamlin said that meth cooks combine and extract ingredients
from "precursor" chemicals including lye (drain cleaners), gas line
antifreeze, the phosphorus from matches and strike plates on books of
matches, iodine, toluene and other cleaning solvents, paint thinner,
starting fluid and acetone, anhydrous ammonia (used in farming),
muriatic acid and any number of other alcohol based fluids.

Each step in the "cooking," Hamlin said, creates distinct dangers and,
at various stages, the process creates phosphine gas, hydrogen
chloride gas, and various caustic acids.

Shaw said that all of the necessary ingredients are easily obtainable
and when combined in the manufacturing process can create a toxic,
deadly and explosive combination. He added that a number of these
chemicals, opened together in an enclosed space can create a deadly
cloud through the mixing of fumes and vapors even before the
manufacturing process begins and that five pounds of toxic waste was
generated for every pound of meth.

The toxic effect of the process attacks the respiratory system and a
number of law enforcement officers and firefighters have been injured,
breathing the fumes of a meth lab.

All of the panelists expressed great concern over the safety of
children in the homes where meth is manufactured. Developing
neurological systems and young lungs are at great risk and innocent
access to loosely controlled toxic chemicals provides serious
opportunity for injury.

An audience member from the Department of Social Services said that 15
children had been removed from families involved in meth labs during
the first five months of this year in Watauga County.

Shaw reported that, statewide, there were 54 children in meth lab
homes and 37 were present when the lab was raided. Shaw said that the
labs can range from large operations called super labs to small labs
that can fit into a large gym bag and be carried in a car. Labs have
been found in homes, apartments, motel rooms and vehicles and endanger
housekeepers at the motels to delivery drivers and cable installers in
homes.

Shaw and Hamlin said that everyone is at risk and must learn to
identify a meth lab operation.

Shook and Shaw said that the community can become involved by watching
neighbors and noting suspicious activity and the accumulation of empty
containers of the "precursor" chemicals in trash and garbage. They
noted that gallons of drain cleaner and toluene and hundreds of
cold-capsule "blister packs" are not normally needed for the average
home.

Retailers can become involved by noting large purchases of the
"precursor" chemicals and products and reporting the purchase to law
enforcement officers. The suggestion was also made to limit the number
of boxes of cold remedies containing ephedrine that people will be
allowed to buy and moving the over-the-counter products to a pharmacy
area under supervision.

The panelists said that education, community involvement and Cooper's
plan to ask the legislature to increase penalties for manufacturing
the drug were corrective measures in the works.

Audience questions ranged from cleanup procedures by neighboring
landowners for dump sites to rehabilitation efforts for addicts and
stiffer sentences. Few answers were available this early in the war,
but all panelists said that plans were in the works to answer all of
the questions.

Additional information may be found online at: www.usdoj.gov/ndic
Shook will host a discussion at the Watauga County Library on Sept. 23
at 6 p.m.

A statewide methamphetamine symposium will be held Oct. 2 in
Winston-Salem at Wake Forest University.