METH LAB DETECTION FORUM SET

Residents of the Wildewood Hills and Heights neighborhoods will learn about
the dangers of an illegal lab manufacturing methamphetamine inside the
apartment next door, or in a home in the neighborhood, at a meth forum this
week. The free forum, which is being co-sponsored by the Wildewood
Hills/Heights Neighborhood Association and Neighborhood Alliance, will be
held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Eagle Ridge Institute, 601 NE 63.

Jo Reed, the association's president, said her neighborhood of 440 homes
has been relatively crime-free.

"We really don't have a problem with meth labs in our area, and that's the
way we want things to stay," Reed said Friday.

Rebekah Zahn, executive director of the Oklahoma City-based Neighborhood
Alliance, said the terrible danger that kitchen meth labs pose to
neighborhoods and property owners has prompted her organization to provide
information to help residents and property owners identify one in their area.

Guest speakers at the meth forum will include Pam Stillings of the Oklahoma
County District Attorney's office and Mark Woodward, spokesman for the
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, Zahn said.

Stillings will discuss potential penalties involved for those convicted of
manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance or possession of illegal
drugs and illegal drug paraphernalia, Zahn said.

She also will address the potential liabilities of renting property to
people who engage in such activities, Zahn added.

Woodward will provide tips on identifying a possible methamphetamine lab in
the neighborhood and discuss the deadly illegal substance known as crank,
methamphetamine or simply meth. The substance, which can be swallowed,
snorted, smoked or injected, induces effects that can last up to 18 hours.

Reed said the neighborhood association wants to educate residents about
kitchen meth labs, the signs to look for and even what smells to smell for.

One telltale sign are "gobs and gobs" of chlorine bleach bottles in the
trash week after week, she said.

"We're not asking anyone to be undercover cops," Reed said, "but we feel if
people are informed and educated about these labs and the dangers, and if
they know who to call, then we'll continue to keep our neighborhood as a
safe place."

Zahn said another indicator of a meth lab is sour odors, sometimes smelling
like ammonia, ether, acetone, paint thinner or fingernail polish remover.

These odors can be harmful because the chemicals used to make meth are
toxic and potentially explosive.

Zahn said police have told her that undercover officers must wear
protective suits and masks when dealing with chemicals from methamphetamine
labs.

Residents from Forest Park Township and the surrounding neighborhoods of
Persimmon Hill, Wildewood, South Park Estate, Highley-Wildewood and Park
Estates North also have been invited to the forum at Eagle Ridge, Zahn said.

"We believe that knowledge is power," Zahn said. "The more information
citizens have about illegal meth labs, then the more empowered they are to
ensure that those labs don't start up in their areas."

Zahn said residents can protect their families, neighborhoods and property
by becoming "the eyes and ears of police."

For more information about Thursday's meth forum, or holding a similar
gathering in other residential areas, call the Neighborhood Alliance at
528- 6322.