NEW LAW COUNTS METH LAB AS CHILD ABUSE

NASHVILLE - Exposing children to crystal meth labs now is classified
as severe child abuse in Tennessee.

The change, signed into law this year, will make it easier for state
officials to take custody of children found at methamphetamine
manufacturing sites by expanding the definition of "abuse or neglect
that is likely to cause great bodily harm or death."

State officials previously had difficulty removing children from homes
where illegal activity couldn't be proved, said Carla Aaron,
spokeswoman for the Department of Children's Services, which crafted
the legislation.

"This law allows that having a structure with a meth lab and child
inside is severe child abuse. It gives us more to work with," she said
Wednesday.

Methamphetamine labs produce toxic fumes that can cause respiratory
problems, headaches, nausea, rashes and body sores. And exposure to
phoshpine gas, a possible by-product of creating methamphetamine, can
sometimes result in loss of loss of consciousness and even death.

Those possibilities, along with therisk of lab fires and neglect by
addicted parents, make the situation "extremely toxic" for children,
said Linda O'Neal, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on
Children and Youth.

When children are removed from their homes, "they can't even take
their clothes or any toys," O'Neal said. "It's virtually like a toxic
waste site that needs to be cleaned up."

O'Neal said her agency supported the legislation, sponsored by Sen.
Curtis Person, R-Memphis, and Rep. Stancil Ford, R-Talbott, because it
helps children by "providing more protections before they are returned
to families, or, if that can't be done, facilitating the termination
of parental rights."

A court's finding of severe abuse can be grounds for taking a child
from the parents permanently.

In recent years, methamphetamine production has been an epidemic in
Tennessee, with the number of seized laboratories tripling, from 137
in 1999 to 365 in 2001, according to the Drug Enforcement
Administration's Web site. Many raids have been in rural counties
along the Cumberland Plateau.

The DEA lists Tennessee as No. 10 in the nation for meth lab seizures
last year, with agency officials estimating that at least one lab is
either located or seized somewhere in the state every day.