CHEMICAL COCKTAIL WITH TOXIC RESULTS

Using a few key words and an Internet search engine, in a matter of minutes
you can find recipes to manufacture methamphetamine. Some are fairly
technical and for "cooks" interested in running a large-yield lab. Other
recipes are written for the average 16-year-old, allowing them to make the
synthetic drug in a bathroom.

Those producing "bathtub meth" can find the chemicals and drugs needed at a
drug store - without a prescription - and a hardware store. If you run a
"super lab," required precursors like ephedrine and pseudoephedrine can be
purchased through drug supply companies in bulk.

Richard Laing knows the ins and outs of meth labs. As an analyst for Health
Canada, he's the first one police call if they discover one. When he
arrives wearing his Hazmat suit, he makes sure none of the investigators
tip over any of the toxic soup brewed in these clandestine labs.

The range of lab sophistication varies but the smaller ones are a big
concern to him. Typically built in confined spaces with little ventilation,
they are a recipe for disaster because of the flammable solvents used to
produce meth.

"The immediate hazard is just having the place blow up," said Laing, who
tests chemicals found in these labs. "But you also have nasty chemicals
used that are toxic, or the byproducts or gases produced as a result of the
chemical reactions."

The Organized Crime Agency said last week that B.C. could have more
clandestine drug labs than the rest of Canada. That means there are a lot
of labs out there being run by meth producers who don't understand
important things like: phosphene gas, produced from a chemical reaction in
meth production, can kill you with the most minuscule amount.

He has no doubt he'll be visiting lots more illegal labs in the future.

"Meth is on the rise. It's got to the point where we see an incredible
amount of methamphetamine (in our testing labs). It's now our largest hard
drug [behind cocaine and heroin respectively]. It's a very close third to
heroin," he says.

It may be time for Canada to start restricting the sale of precursors,
similar to what the U.S. has done.

Right now, Canada's only attempt at enforcement is the RCMP-run program
that monitors the sale of the chemicals. Corp. Doug Culver formally headed
precursor control at the RCMP's provincial headquarters. He says there are
many suspicious transactions and no knowledge of where the chemicals end
up. "It's a guessing game as to how much of it ends up on the street as meth."