Pubdate: Mon, 15 May 2001 Source: Ogdensburg Journal/Advance News (NY) Copyright: 2001 St. Lawrence County Newspapers Corp Contact: Accepts LTEs by mail only! Website: http://www.ogd.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/689 Author: Associated Press Note: Accepts LTEs by mail only! Must be signed w/phone# Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH LABS MOVE TO FORESTS Ashford, Wash. In the Tahoma State Forest in the shadow of Mount Rainier, hikers and hunters have been displaced by men in moon suits searching for contamination from methamphetamine labs and roping off sickly brown "dead zones" where meth making's poisonous byproducts were dumped. It's part of what authorities say is a national trend; As police crack down on methamphetamine in cities and towns, makers of the highly addictive drug are moving to vast, lightly patrolled state and federal forests to set up their labs. The number of busted meth labs increased tenfold over the past year in Washington state alone. "It poses a danger to anyone out there in the woods," said forester Bob Brown of the Washington Department of Natural Resources, "Somebody could get killed or injured very badly by this stuff." The simplicity of making meth, cheap to produce, with a potent high, has fueled its popularity. When users eat, inject or snort meth it makes them feel euphoric, energized and powerful. Addicts can go days without sleep. But the drug's downsides strike quickly: irritability, paranoia, aggression and violence. The Tahoma forest was closed last month until at least June 10 after lab including open containers of solution with a pH of 14, corrosive enough to burn flesh off bones. A blast of anhydrous ammonia, a meth ingredient that leaches moisture from whatever it touches, could "take you eyeball and shrink it down to the size of a raisin," says Ashford Fire Chief Jim Gregory. Closing an entire forest for a meth lab cleanup was a first in Washington, and no national forest has ever been shut down because of meth, said Kim Thorsen, deputy director for law enforcement and investigation at the Forest Service. - --- MAP posted-by: GD