METH MENACE

Firefighters and Law-Enforcement Officers Are Being Given Special Training
to Prepare Them for Hazards During Raids

BOONE - They knew it was coming.

Investigators with the State Bureau of Investigation and local
law-enforcement agencies could track the steady march of the
methamphetamine problem as it moved east like a bad-weather system.
States such as Missouri, Kansas and Michigan were overwhelmed by the
spread of methamphetamine - and the small clandestine labs where it is
produced - in the mid-1990s. Methamphetamine threatened to overwhelm
law enforcement in some Midwestern states. In Missouri alone,
officials had more than 2,700 meth-related cases in 2002.

By the late 1990s, problems associated with the drug's growing
popularity began showing up in Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky. It was
only a matter of time before it spread into North Carolina.

In 1999 - the first year that the SBI began keeping statistics -
agents were called to seven lab sites. Since then, that number has
increased more than 900 percent. And with at least 19 meth-lab cases
so far this year, law-enforcement officials expect to respond to more
than 200 such sites by year's end - two-thirds of them in the western
half of the state.

"The fact that we're going to be inundated with this problem is
unavoidable," said Van Shaw, the agent in charge of the SBI's
clandestine meth-lab response program. "But at least we have a plan of
action in place and won't have to put one together under fire like so
many other states. I'll put our program, equipment and training up
against anybody."

New hazards The problem seems to be hitting three Western North
Carolina counties - Rutherford, McDowell and Watauga - especially hard
right now. More than a quarter of the meth labs found in North
Carolina in 2002 were discovered in those counties. And so far this
year five of the 19 labs raided in North Carolina were in Watauga
County - four in the last three weeks.

Part of the reason for the increased number of raids is the fact that
more labs are in operation. And part of it is that local
law-enforcement agencies are more attuned to the problem and are
aggressively pursuing leads. "We've been trying to get information on
some of these operations for two and a half years," said Watauga
Sheriff Mark Shook. "Now we're getting people willing to come forward
and help us. It's making a difference."

Preparing volunteer firefighters and local emergency response
personnel is the next challenge.

Heat, smoke and fire are constant hazards in fighting house fires. A
more ominous threat looms for firefighters now, though.

The proliferation of clandestine meth labs has compounded those risks.
Firefighters now have to worry about a witch's brew of chemicals and
unexpected explosions when they run into burning buildings.

When members of the Deep Gap Volunteer Fire Department rolled up to a
mobile-home fire Jan. 26, they fought it just as they would any other.
The crews followed standard procedures, pulling on airpacks and
fighting to save as much property as possible.

Only after the fire was extinguished did anyone realize that the house
contained a lab and all the chemicals needed to manufacture
methamphetamine. Five firefighters were taken to the Watauga Medical
Center complaining of respiratory ailments and chest pains after
coming in contact with toxic fumes.

"The days of normal firefighting are over," said Chief John Rawls.
"Things have definitely changed and we're going to have to approach
them differently from now on."

In the wake of that incident, Shook and other Watauga County officials
want to make sure that emergency personnel are trained to deal with
similar situations. SBI experts taught training sessions last week for
more than 125 county emergency workers.

Captain Jack Huskins of the Deep Gap Fire Department was grateful for
the information - he was one of the five firefighters hospitalized two
weeks ago. "I wish we'd had this a couple weeks ago," he said. "That
fire was just one of those things like a snake in the grass. It jumped
and bit us and we didn't even know it was there."

It's been around since the '30s Methamphetamine and the clandestine
labs where it is manufactured are not new. The drug, a stimulant that
works on the central nervous system, was used as a decongestant in the
1930s. During World War II, the United States and Germany used to keep
troops alert.

Truck drivers and motorcycle gangs started using it in the 1950s and
it picked up the nickname "speed" in the 1960s when it spread to
hippies. In the '70s and '80s, meth picked up another nickname -
"redneck cocaine" - because of its increased use in rural areas in the
western United States.

In the '90s, meth found yet another following among young, white
blue-collar workers.

The appeal of the drug is simple, authorities say. Whether smoked,
injected or snorted, it increases the heart rate, blood pressure and
body temperature and produces a sense of euphoria for hours - much
longer than the rush associated with crack cocaine. And at a cost of
about $100 a gram and $2,800 an ounce, it is cheaper than powder cocaine.

Because of the increase in demand, suppliers had to find new ways to
manufacture meth. When labs were first discovered in North Carolina,
authorities typically encountered sophisticated large-scale operations
that were set up in barns or outbuildings in isolated areas.

Now, though, investigators have to contend with box-top production
labs found in cars and campers and kitchen-counter labs set up in houses.

The labs, which consist of beakers, tubing, plastic containers and a
heat source such as a stove or propane burner, are easily moved. As a
result many operators still set up shop at night in rural areas when
those living nearby are asleep and less likely to notice the noxious
odor produced during the cooking process.

Small-scale production of the drug has grown in part because meth can
be made using common chemicals such as ether, red phosphorus found in
match books, and antifreeze. These substances are mixed in different
combinations to extract controlled compounds such as ephedrine, which
is commonly found in cold and allergy medicines and a basic compound
used in meth production.

Though meth recipes are widely available on the Internet, most of the
cooks who make the drug are learning from someone else, the SBI's Shaw
said.

"This knowledge is spreading by word of mouth and on-the-job
training," Shaw said. "It's estimated that each person who knows how
to cook meth teaches at least five others. That's (another) reason
this drug has spread so quickly."

Human costs are high The highs come with a price tag for users and
those who have to contend with the problems caused by its production.

Methamphetamine destroys dopamine, a chemical in the brain that helps
control movement and emotions. Extended abuse can trigger signs of
Parkinson's disease, said Todd Clark, the clinical supervisor of
substance-abuse services of Davidson County Mental Health.

Meth addicts can develop symptoms similar to those of crack abusers,
Clark said. They can be jittery and impulsive, and sometimes they
develop shakiness in their extremities.

Diana Quealy-Berge, who teaches addiction classes at Appalachian State
University and saw many meth cases while working in Wyoming, said that
the physical effects of the drug can be devastating.

"It's one of the most frightening drugs I've dealt with," she said.
Because it is a stimulant, many abusers get very active and agitated.
Many stop eating. In addition, the toxic chemicals used to make meth
may play a role in abusers' physical deterioration. Telltale signs
that she has seen in abusers are rotting teeth, brittle and thinning
hair and weight loss.

"Nobody starts using any drug thinking they'll become an addict,"
Quealy-Berge said. "They all think 'It won't happen to me.' But it
does." The meth habit is said to be almost as hard to break as crack
addiction. "We've seen studies that say that one of every two crack
users will use it until their death," Clark said. "Methamphetamine
users are right up there below crack."

The risks are more immediate for firefighters and law-enforcement
officers who get called to meth lab sites.

The chemicals commonly used in meth production are toxic and
potentially lethal, according to the Justice Department's National
Drug Intelligence Center in Washington. When mixed, the household
chemicals can damage the central nervous system, liver and kidneys and
burn or irritate the skin, eyes, nose and throat.

In addition to the five Deep Gap firefighters, at least two other
law-enforcement officials in the region have been injured in incidents
involving meth labs.

Two undercover drug investigators in Davidson County were treated last
summer after being overcome by a cloud of vapors that formed during a
meth-lab cleanup.

They were standing about 50 yards away from the site in a run-down
house on Bud Kanoy Road between Lexington and Thomasville. They were
not wearing Hazmat gear, as the officers inside the house were. The
vapors made it difficult for the detectives to breathe and led to
irritation in their throats and noses, said one of the detectives, who
asked not to be identified because he works undercover.

The detectives were taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical
Center, where they were treated and released after about an hour. "It
was not enough to cause permanent damage, but the risk was there," the
detective said.

Environmental damage In preparation for the wave of meth-lab raids,
the SBI has been training local law-enforcement officers, EMS
technicians and firefighters about what to do in case they are called
into a situation that might involve drug production. Every place where
methamphetamine is produced is a hazardous-waste site, said Dave
Gaddis, an assistant DEA special agent in North Carolina. Every ounce
of methamphetamine produced creates five ounces of hazardous waste.
And for every lab that is found, dozens go undetected.

"This is bad enough as a drug, but when you consider the environmental
impact, this is really nasty stuff," Gaddis said.

The DEA pays for the chemical cleanup and disposal at sites that the
SBI determines were used for meth production. The cleanup and disposal
process usually costs between $5,000 and $10,000.

And that doesn't account for contamination left behind for landlords
and local officials. According to the National Drug Intelligence
Center, chemicals left behind and the fumes produced can permeate
walls, carpets and plaster. Meth cooks often pour leftover chemicals
down household drains, toilets or directly onto the ground.

"A big concern for us are the children living in these places," said
Shaw of the SBI. "As meth cooks, it can contaminate . places a toddler
may crawl through every day."