METH LABS KEEP AREA POLICE BUSY

Southwest Michigan is known as the state's "hot spot" for manufacturing
methamphetamine, police say, and as the drug's popularity increases, so do
the health and environmental dangers surrounding it.

"There's a lot to this drug," said Detective Sgt. Frank Williams of the
State Police Methamphetamine Investigation Team. "It's definitely going to
be an uphill battle."

Williams said meth is the new drug of choice but hasn't reached epidemic
levels yet. Police don't know if they can beat it, but they are trying to
suppress it.

"We're just trying to do the best we can with the resources we have," he
said.

Last year, 206 clandestine labs were seized in the state.

So far this year, 75 labs have been seized. Williams estimates that by Dec.
31, more than 300 labs will have been found.

In Southwest Michigan, about 45 labs have been seized so far this year.

Van Buren County Prosecutor Juris Kaps said the number of local meth cases
has dramatically increased in the last few years, and it's typical to see
two or three new meth cases a week.

"Two or three years ago it was very uncommon to see a meth case," he said.

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that affects the central nervous
system. Similar to cocaine, it can increase the heart rate and blood
pressure, and can be snorted, smoked or injected. Side effects include
paranoia, delusion, anxiety and irritability.

The drug can be made cheaply and quickly using chemicals such as ether,
anhydrous ammonia and sulfuric acid, as well as general household chemicals
and products like lithium batteries.

It's highly addictive.

"These people will do anything to get the drug," Williams said. "Once
they've established an appetite for the drug, they have to make it
themselves so they can get it."

Williams said a search on the Internet will provide all kinds of information
on how to make it.

The drug is often made at home, but Williams said some people make it in
hotels as well.

Because drug makers aren't skilled chemists, manufacturing is most dangerous
due to the toxic chemicals, police say. Fires and explosions can result.

Recently, a man in South Bend was killed in an explosion while cooking meth
in his home.

"These people have no respect for themselves or the people around them,"
Williams said. The chemical fumes can be toxic, and attack the liver, lungs,
heart and brain. "It's only a matter of time for these people."

For every pound of meth that's made, five to six pounds of hazardous waste
are also produced. Williams said that hurts the environment because those
cooking the drug pour the waste down drains or onto the ground.

When a lab is seized, Williams said the ground has to be tested and is
treated as a bio-hazard site. Although no major meth-related environmental
disasters have occurred yet in Michigan, it's costly to get a ground sample
tested for toxic waste.

Janet Olszewski, director of the Michigan Department of Community Health,
said neighbors could be at risk.

"You don't have to be a meth cooker or user to be in danger. Anyone in and
around an area used to cook methamphetamines is in extreme danger and can
quickly encounter serious health problems, injuries and death," Olszewski
said.

Williams said most labs are found when neighbors report suspicious activity
or smell chemicals coming from a home.