COOKING CRANK: A RECIPE FOR DISASTER

Poisonous.

Flammable.

Toxic.

All describe the danger of methamphetamine labs. The drug can be cooked
anywhere, anytime.

Your neighbors could be cooking it right now.

"This is the worst epidemic I've seen in this state in my career," said
Jerry Harris, agent-in-charge of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs Control.

Harris, a veteran state narcotic agent, talked about the state's
methamphetamine problem Wednesday night. He served as guest speaker for
"Methamphetamine Lab Dangers and Drug Endangered Children," a program
sponsored by Kay Christiansen and the district attorney's office.

Several area law enforcement officers and members of the public gathered at
Gordon Cooper Technology to learn more about the drug.

Methamphetamine is "kicking law enforcement's tail," Harris told the group,
with the number of labs on the rise.

On average, Oklahoma police officers raid about three methamphetamine labs
a day.

Harris estimated the output of the drug at about 4.5 tons per year in
Oklahoma, which means $122 million in wholesale prices -- and a street
value of $403 million.

Everyday items can be used to manufacture the drug and there are a variety
of ways it can be cooked.

"It's a recipe for disaster," he said.

A lab can be working in a barn, a vacant house, an apartment, motel room,
camper, storage building, or even inside a vehicle traveling the roadway.
Anywhere.

The public's help is needed in providing tips to law enforcement officers
to raid and stop these labs. Such a tip led to a bust early Wednesday
morning near Wellston.

Unusual odors similar to fingernail polish remover or cat urine are
possible indications someone is cooking the drug, he said. Renters who pay
cash, large amounts of certain items such as coffee filters, batteries,
lantern fuel or other chemicals also can be indicators.

"Those are red flags for a meth lab," Harris said. "Every lab, at some
time, is moved. You're apt to see one in a car."

For every person who cooks meth, OBNDD estimates that one person teaches
someone else how. Harris said rural areas are attractive to meth cooks, but
there's no place that's immune.

And law enforcement officers, when they bust a lab, are in danger.

"These guys go in to do a very hazardous job," Harris said. "Each one of
these labs is a toxic waste site."

The agent discussed ways to cook methamphetamine and used a slide show to
demonstrate what law officers and the public can look for to spot a meth lab.

Meth cooks can get sloppy in their work, causing an explosion and
endangering themselves and others.

Harris showed a picture of a person who had been burned in a meth fire. It
is believed that person is cooking methamphetamine again.

"When they're addicted," Harris said there's nothing that will keep
high-intensity users from going back to meth.

The program, which lasted about three hours, proved insightful.

Gene Wilcox, Tecumseh, said he attended the program to learn more about
meth. He's seen some of the items used to make the drug scattered in
ditches around his rural Tecumseh home.

"I have a greater understanding of the danger involved in the process of
making meth," Wilcox said. "It's interesting they make it out of poison."

A local hardware store employee also attended after dealing with suspicious
customers trying to purchase drain cleaner, an agent used to make meth.

Harris also spoke about children who are endangered by meth cooks.

In one case, Harris shared a story of a woman who climbed out a bathroom
window when her meth operation went bad, leaving her three children inside
the home to suffer the consequences.

That case has spurred efforts to help drug-endangered children. There's
been other cases of children being removed from homes where their parents
were cooking the drug, exposing their children to the hazardous chemicals
and fumes.

"We need to be filing child-endangerment charges," he said. "These kids are
the victims."

Harris estimated that of all labs busted, about 35 percent are in places
where children live.

And with methamphetamine labs on the rise, law enforcement will have even
more obstacles to face. The cost in cleaning up meth labs in Oklahoma last
year was more than $1 million, he said.

In Oklahoma, there were 10 labs busted in 1994. In 2001, there were 1,200
labs seized. And Harris estimates for every lab busted, there could be 10 more.

Maud Police Chief Shawn Seeney and two Maud officers attended after dealing
with their own methamphetamine situation in Maud last week. They wanted to
learn more -- to be better prepared the next time they walked into an
unknown situation, Seeney said.

Anyone suspecting drug activity can notify their local police. In
Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties, concerned residents can call the
District Attorney's Narcotics Unit at 878-5520 and leave a message on the
anonymous tip line. Or, residents can call the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs Control at 1-800-522-8031.

Methamphetamine users wanting help for their addiction can call the
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services at 522-3908.