Pubdate: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 Source: Gadsden Times, The (AL) Copyright: 2005 The Gadsden Times Contact: http://www.gadsdentimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1203 Author: Cindy West Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) MARSHALL'S RECORD METH MONTH County's Drug Agents Find 16 Labs In January. The number of meth labs discovered in Marshall County hit an all-time high in January. Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit Director Rob Savage said that his department discovered 16 crystal methamphetamine labs last month. The previous record was 11 labs during one month. Two Marshall County legislators are planning a bill during this legislative session, which begins today, that they believe will hinder the manufacturing of crystal meth. State Sen. Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove, and Rep. Frank McDaniel, D-Albertville, are introducing a bill to limit the sale of medicines that contain ephedrine. Ephedrine, found in some over-the-counter cold medicines, is one of the ingredients used to make crystal meth. Judy Miller, director of the Marshall County Legislative Office, said the bill should be a bit stronger than the one introduced by another senator last year. Marshall County already has a group of business people called Merchants Against Meth who look out for people buying great quantities of items that can be used to make meth. Those businesses then report the large purchases to law enforcement. Among the 16 reported meth labs in January was a lab that exploded in a house Jan. 21, slightly injuring one man. The man was charged with manufacturing a controlled substance. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin