LAWMEN: METH PUTS CHILDREN AT RISK

Police say the lure of methamphetamine is so strong that users neglect
everything, including their children.

And, the drug is a prevalent force in the region.

Newton County Sheriff Ron Doerge said his department has made 50
methamphetamine seizures in Newton County so far this year.

The El Paso Intelligence Center's National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure
System reported 888 meth-lab seizures in Missouri this year, through Nov.
30. Missouri is second only to California, where 1,387 meth-lab seizures
were reported through Nov. 30.

The center's figures show 151 meth-making operations have been seized so
far this year in Jasper County. The statistics show 16 seizures during the
same period in McDonald County, 50 in Barry County and three in Lawrence
County.

Doerge said meth addicts typically break off all connections with family
and friends, becoming what he called "slaves" to the drug.

"One guy told me it's easier to stop breathing than to stop taking meth,"
the sheriff said.

The sheriff said neglect of children is common.

"We're always taking children out of these homes" when raids are conducted,
he said.

He said many times, children go to school ill and smelling like chemicals
from their parents' activities. Teachers and school administrators often
call the Sheriff's Department to report such situations.

"There are hundreds of children born to people addicted to this drug who
are in serious jeopardy," Doerge said. "When we make raids, a lot of times
these children are there."

The El Paso center reports 533 meth-lab seizures in Kansas between Jan. 1
and Nov. 30, including 21 in Cherokee County, 19 in Crawford County and 13
in Labette County.

Kyle Smith, a special agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, said
the figures are an improvement over last year's numbers.

Smith said the KBI and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation
Services are seeking legislation to establish stronger penalties for
parents who expose their children to methamphetamine.

"The most heart-rending situations are those where children are in homes
where methamphetamine is used or manufactured," Smith said. "These children
may have chemical burns on the soles of their feet and lung damage from
breathing the fumes."

He said in one case in Southeast Kansas where a mobile home caught fire
during a meth-making operation, neighbors told his agents that the
residents made two trips into the burning home to retrieve their equipment
before going inside a third time for their children.

Detective Mike Eason with the Ottawa County (Okla.) Sheriff's Department
said his department has made 26 meth-lab seizures so far this year,
including 18 since July.

The El Paso center's statistics show 164 seizures statewide in Oklahoma
between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30.

Eason said it surprises him that no children have died in Ottawa County
from their parents' use of methamphetamine.

"It's amazing, the way they put these children at risk, that we haven't had
any children die in this county," he said.

He said he has seen meth and its chemical components stored in soda bottles
and plastic pitchers next to food in the refrigerator.

He said when meth arrests are made in houses where children are present,
charges of child abuse and endangerment are filed against the parent or
parents. The state removes the children from the parents.

He said the children face risks from breathing the chemical fumes, and
inadvertently eating the meth or drinking the chemicals used to make it,
plus the risks of explosion and fire.