Pubdate: Thu, 11 Aug 2005
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2005 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Author: Emily S. Achenbaum
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

UNION AUTHORITIES LEARNING HOW TO DEAL WITH METH LABS

Both The Drug Itself And The Places It's Made Pose Hazards To Public Safety

Local law enforcement authorities held methamphetamine training this week, 
learning how to handle a dangerous drug that has suddenly appeared in Union 
County.

The Union County Sheriff's Office, county fire marshal and State Bureau of 
Investigation hosted two days of sessions on how to recognize clandestine 
meth labs, and how officers can protect themselves if they find one. Law 
enforcement officers have been hospitalized after discovering meth labs in 
homes and even pulling a car over and opening the trunk, and inhaling 
dangerous fumes.

The labs are full of potentially fatal chemicals and gases (like ammonia) 
and require extensive cleanup; many meth labs are only discovered because 
they explode. The sheriff's office brochure inviting area officers to 
attend the sessions reminded them that neighbors of meth production sites 
were at risk.

Earlier this spring, the sheriff's office hosted a training on meth labs, 
suspecting it was only a matter of time before a lab would be found in the 
county.

The drug has long been associated with the N.C. mountains, where it can be 
produced out of sight (and smell), but authorities in other counties in the 
Charlotte region have recently been finding a handful of labs. A few people 
in Anson County were recently arrested for possessing the drug.

Within weeks of that first training session, the county's first lab was 
discovered in April. In the past three months, four labs have been found.

"We felt fortunate that we didn't have a problem" with meth manufacturing, 
Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said after the first lab was found. "But 
we knew it was coming. Now we have proof that it's here."

So far, the four labs discovered have been in eastern Union. Cathey said he 
suspected people were running the drug over to Anson County.

The drug's staggering spread across the state has given law enforcement 
cause for concern: Three years ago, 42 clandestine meth labs were found in 
the state, mostly in the rural N.C. mountains and South Carolina's Upstate. 
In 2004, law enforcement said it uncovered 304 labs.

Methamphetamine is a stimulant that releases high levels of dopamine into 
the brain, giving people highs some claim last hours, if not days. It also 
leads to paranoia, violence and physical decay, such as rotting teeth.
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