Pubdate: Sun, 02 Jan 2005
Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)
Copyright: 2005 The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Contact:  http://www.lubbockonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/841
Author: D. Lance Lunsford, Avalanche-Journal
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH - A RECIPE FOR DANGER

Hub City Confronts Reality Of Drug Labs

Making an arrest in a meth lab case goes beyond kicking in doors and
slapping cuffs on unruly suspects. Officers face potential catastrophe
as volatile chemicals mix in makeshift labs.

The danger makes the arrests a bane to taxpayers who foot the bill for
training on how to handle meth lab components.

And the dangers rest in the heart of the South Plains, much of it in
rural areas such as New Deal, where officers were injured in a meth
lab arrest Wednesday night.

Lubbock County Sheriff's deputies worked with police officers in New
Deal at approximately midnight, approaching a ramshackle skeleton
building covered in sheet metal where they expected to find Barry B.
Howell, 33, cooking methamphetamine.

When they found him, officers said, Howell took off, running with a
tank full of toxic anhydrous ammonia spewing a poisonous cloud.

Left in the wake of the arrest were his mother, Barbara, and several
others arrested for charges relating to the meth lab.

Five arresting officers were treated for chemical burns from the
anhydrous ammonia.

Howell was treated for second- and third-degree burns
Friday.

Knowing how to deal with the dangerous material brings an added
expense to communities as officers learn how to dispose of meth labs
without destroying evidence.

"I couldn't imagine how much money we've expended on officer training
. just for my guys alone," said Texas Department of Public Safety
Capt. Joe Longway.

Each officer faces at least one week of training in Austin with the
DPS or in Quantico, Va., with the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration. That comes out to a hefty cost per officer. Add the
DPS troopers' training to the cost of a large number of Lubbock Police
officers who also have to go in for the same classes.

"The majority of the people in our (narcotics) unit is certified to go
in and analyze (a meth lab)," said Officer Byron Gray of the Lubbock
police narcotics unit. "You're looking at a pretty good expense just
to get those certifications."

According to Longway, who is responsible for narcotics investigations
in about 60 counties in West Texas and the Panhandle, Lubbock has seen
50 labs seized in 2004.

And the Hub City is on the low end compared to other areas, such as
Amarillo and Wichita Falls.

The Texas Department of Public Safety tracks numbers back to 1998,
when only 20 meth labs were seized across the state of Texas.

In 2002, the number grew to 350 labs seized across the
state.

According to Gray, 51 percent of drug arrests are for
meth.

Many legislators have taken heed to the growing trend, authoring
legislative proposals that could come to the floor in early January
when the Texas Legislature convenes.

State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, is proposing Senate Bill 66,
which aims to inform retailers of just how to identify possible meth
makers based on their over-the-counter purchases.

Since the components to make meth are largely available legally,
pharmacies carrying ephedrine or pseudoephedrine -- or products such
as Sudafed, which contain ephedrine -- are considered the first that
could identify potential meth makers.

The bill aims to deter theft of such products by encouraging retailers
to limit displays of the products.
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MAP posted-by: Derek