METH LABS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN

Hidden drug labs are springing up all over Alberta, and police forces
throughout the province are stepping up efforts to identify and shut down
these clandestine narcotics breweries.

But in many cases, the first authorities to find the lab aren't officers
with search warrants in hand - they're firefighters or paramedics called
when the volatile chemicals used to make the drugs explode or burst into
flames.

"It is very much a problem in northern Alberta right now. And it's in small
towns," said RCMP drug lab specialist Cpl. Harold Trupish in a presentation
to the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association conference hosted this week in
Grande Prairie.

Eighty per cent of underground labs are set up in houses, apartments or
other places people live. One in every six drug labs discovered is found
because of an accident in the lab, said Trupish.

Every drug lab is danger waiting to be unleashed. Potential fire and
explosion hazards, carcinogenic substances, and chemicals that can form
toxic gases when combined or heated.

Even after a lab has been shut down, the contaminants can linger in the
building, poisoning future tenants.

Most labs are set up to churn out methamphetamines - a potent stimulant
that ranks as one of the two most common "hard" drugs in Grande Prairie.

The drug itself is gaining in popularity, easily beating out other
home-brewed drugs like ecstasy. In large part, that's because of the high
potency and ease of production.

"Everything that's used to make the drugs can be legally acquired. We're
not talking about containers of drugs coming from Columbia," said Trupish.

A batch of meth, he said, can be "cooked" by anyone with some basic
training and chemicals and supplies available over-the-counter at local
stores in as little as 35 minutes.

"The village idiot can make meth. You don't need a chemistry background,"
he said.

Methamphetamines - also called crank, ice, jib, and speed - provide a high
of up to 10 hours off a single hit, usually a tenth of a gram.

It can be snorted, smoked, injected, or even just eaten.

Some studies suggest a user can become addicted after trying the drug once.

Trupish said there are cases of junkies going for 25 days without eating or
sleeping while on a major meth bender.

Users can show a range of symptoms including weight loss, a
chemical-smelling body odour, open sores and dilated pupils, accompanied by
frantic, jittery behaviour.

Last year 11 meth labs were uncovered in Alberta, though so far none have
been found in the Peace Country.

There are some tell-tale signs that a building in your neighbourhood may be
home to a drug lab, said Cpl. Harold Trupish, an RCMP drug lab specialist
from Edmonton.

1. Strong odour of chemicals or solvents.

2. Windows blacked out

3. Renters paying cash

4. Lots of traffic in and out, especially at night.

5. Excessive amounts of trash.

6. Lots of boxes or bottles going in or out.

7. Barrels of unusual chemicals stored near home.