Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jun 2000
Source: American Press (LA)
Copyright: 2000 Shearman Corporation
Contact:  P.O. Box 2893, Lake Charles, LA 70602
Fax: (337) 494-4070
Website: http://www.americanpress.com/

METH LABS DANGEROUS EVEN AFTER THEY'RE CLOSED

All illicit-drug labs produce deadly products when they're in use. Now
we've got drug labs that are deadly after they're stopped.

The drug Methamphetamine can be made from cheap chemical ingredients
found in most stores. Criminals often mix their "meth" recipes in
toilet bowls so they can flush away the evidence if there is a raid.

Ecstasy is a methamphetamine. It increases heart rate and body
temperature to sometimes dangerous levels and is often used at
''raves,'' all-night dances where young people may mix the drug with
alcohol, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Demand for the stuff continues to increase. Last December, the
Department of Health and Human Services reported in an annual survey
that for the first time since it began examining the drug ecstasy in
1996, use among 10th- and 12th-graders had increased.

The demand for the drug has triggered an explosive increase in the
number of meth labs that produce ecstasy. And the criminals who
operate the labs move frequently to avoid raids.

When they move, they simply leave the byproducts behind. The
ingredients are cheap and can be easily found at the next location.

What they leave behind, however, is hazardous -- toxic chemicals that
are expensive to clean up.

That's where an additional problem has developed. Federal funding that
states use to clean up seized methamphetamine drug labs has dried up,
leaving communities with dozens of locations containing toxic
chemicals -- and no money to get rid of them.

''Every time a meth lab is shut down, we're left with a toxic time
bomb. And the more labs that we put out of business, the more time
bombs are left ticking,'' says Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, whose state
is a hotbed of abandoned and closed-down meth labs.

Cleaning up meth hot spots is expensive. It can cost as much as
$10,000 to dispose of the chemicals and equipment left over from each
drug lab.

Ironically, the more success a state has in closing down meth labs,
the bigger the clean-up burden. In Idaho, an alliance of federal,
state, and local law enforcement produced a 74 percent increase in the
number of labs shut down last year. But more seizures means toxic materials.

Other states are also hurting. In Arkansas, which led the nation last
year in meth lab seizures, per capita, local agencies are scrambling
to find other sources of cleanup funds. Oklahoma has asked the U.S.
Justice Department to help find $500,000 to help clean up abandoned
meth lab sites.

So far, Louisiana isn't among the states that have been hit the
hardest by the meth-lab cleanup problem.

But the administration and state lawmakers need to keep up with what's
happening in less fortunate states.

Lack of awareness and preparation have left meth lab hot spots in
trouble -- and we don't want to be caught in that position at some
future date.
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MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson