MAYSVILLE TRIES TO PREVENT METH LABS FROM MOVING IN

MAYSVILLE - As abuse of the drug methamphetamine grows throughout the
state, an Ohio River community will work to keep the drug out of its
neighborhood.

The Buffalo Trace Agency for Substance Abuse Policy will host the Meth
Lookout Program on Aug. 12 at the Maysville Community College. The
workshop is designed to help retailers, public utilities, hotel and
lodging owners and emergency workers spot people setting up
methamphetamine labs, said Karen Hall, a substance abuse prevention
specialist with the Buffalo Trace Regional Prevention Center.

Hall said she wants retailers to be able to spot people buying an
excessive amount of the ingredients for making methamphetamine and
hotel owners to recognize activity that would indicate a meth
operation on the premises. Public utilities and emergency workers who
may encounter meth labs should also attend, to learn of hazardous
chemicals and other dangers they will come into contact with in a meth
lab, she said.

Hall said if the public is informed and can see the warning signs, the
problem might not spread to the Maysville area.

Maysville has experienced little methamphetamine traffic compared to
regions across the Ohio River and in the western portion of the
county, said Maysville Police Chief Van Ingram. The methamphetamine
traffic in the city has been limited to a few arrests, he said.

While the problem hasn't hit Maysville hard yet, Ingram said, it is
only a matter of time before the drug starts to filter over more.

"You would be a fool to think the drug isn't crossing the river,"
Ingram said.

Authorities in Adams County, Ohio, have had their hands full with labs
springing up in abundance, said Detective Jeff McCarty, of the Adams
County Sheriff's Office. In some weeks, the sheriff's office cleans
out as many as four labs, he said.