Pubdate: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 Source: Tullahoma News (TN) Copyright: The Tullahoma News 2004 Contact: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=49033&BRD=1614&PAG=461&dept_id=161070& Website: http://www.tullahomanews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2031 Author: Gret Altum Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METHAMPHETAMINE EASY TO MAKE, TASK FORCE, YOUTH COUNCIL ARE TOLD Methamphetamine is easy to manufacture depending on the quality desired and the time its users can wait, Tullahoma City officials were told Tuesday. Investigator Frank Watkins and drug officer Earl Morse of Tullahoma Police Department were guest speakers at a meeting of Tullahoma Drug Task Force/Youth Development Council at CD Stamps Community Center. Watkins told the crowd of about 30 that about 10 officers total worked in Coffee County specifically on "meth" labs. Characteristics of the drug include that it is readily absorbed, metabolized by the liver, excreted by urine. Effects of methamphetamine include euphoria, restlessness, anxiety, hallucination, paranoia, hypertension, and physical conditions like smelling bad and complexion changes. The most common way of making methamphetamine involves ephedrine, but there is a "Nazi" method common in West Tennessee, Morse said. Things to look for if someone is suspected of making the drug include glassware, hot plates, turkey basters, gas generators, containers with two layers, lye, iodine, and strong chemical odors. A white crystalline substance extracted from antihistamine medicine and produced by soaking pills in methyl alcohol. "You can tell when they can got it on their hands," Watkins said of meth makers, and more and more children have got to live around places where a meth lab is in place. Normally methamphetamine takes four to six hours to cook, at a temperature of 238 degrees. "After 46 hours, it is a yellowish, greenish sludge with red phosphorous in the middle of it," Watkins said. Ether will go to the bottom of the meth container and is removed, he added. The officers showed pictures of meth labs, along with pictures of a woman's face altered by meth usage over 10 years. A table full of the ingredients for methamphetamine was also present. "These people don't follow EPA guidelines like we do," Watkins said humorously. "We hardly ever see the selling of it," Morse mentioned. "You cook it, you cook it for yourself. Some might give it away but it can be sold." "A big problem is meth from Mexico," another officer mentioned. Meth can be made with ephedrine, iodine, and red phosphorous alone if a person is willing to wait a while, but often that does not happen. "That's why we'll see 10 broken microwave ovens in a backyard," Morse said. The things used to make meth have to be mixed just so to be declared hazardous material. What is in a person's garbage is one of the best ways of ascertaining if meth making is going on. "Ninety percent of these things can be found in the house," Watkins said. Large, well-known retail stores cooperate with police usually, an officer said, but "mom and pop" stores may be more easily tempted to sell the ingredients for making meth at a profit. "It's in cars, too," another officer said. "If you go to a hotel," Watkins said, "try to get a room down a hall. A room on the outside is more likely to have been used for meth. Check for stains in the sink and bathtub or on the carpet. If something funny, get another room." He mentioned the number of meth labs found in the county is averaging 90 per year. "I think the first thing in battling this is awareness," Mayor Steve Cope said. "Whatever we can do to help, we're ready." "I think it was an excellent presentation," Alderman Troy Bisby said. "It's not just a Tullahoma problem, it's a national problem." In other business, it was announced a health fair is being planned for Tullahoma City Schools students, and an Ocoee rafting trip may be planned for certain "at-risk" local children. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin