Pubdate: Thu, 08 Feb 2007
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Copyright: 2007 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.stltoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/418
Author: Grant Slater, Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

HOUSE FUNDS RESEARCH ON AFTERMATH OF METH-MAKING

WASHINGTON -- If you're moving to a house or an apartment in 
Missouri, your new place is more likely to have been a former 
methamphetamine lab than in any other state, federal officials say.

That's no big deal if it has been properly cleaned up, which involves 
removing meth residue. But lack of information on potential dangers 
and cleanup led the House of Representatives on Wednesday to 
authorize funding of federal research on the aftermath of meth-making.

In Missouri no guidelines exist for the remediation of defunct labs, 
unlike in several other states. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, a 
co-sponsor of the legislation, said the issue has been overlooked for too long.

"As my district lies in the state leading the nation in meth 
incidents, I have seen firsthand the harmful and wide-reaching 
effects of the substance," Carnahan said.

He said he supported the legislation with three groups in mind: the 
children of meth users and producers, first responders whose jobs 
send them to meth labs on a regular basis and people who rent houses 
where labs have existed in the past.

Tom Murphy, an agent for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration 
in St. Louis, noted the number of meth lab busts in Missouri has 
surpassed every other state since 2002. The number of labs plummeted 
by nearly half between 2005 and 2006, from 2,176 to 1,268. But 
Missouri still tops the list.

Only one study has been conducted into the potential effects of meth 
residue. Michael Van Dyke, a researcher with the National Jewish 
Medical and Research Center, said that study sent him on police raids 
of meth houses at any hour of the day or night -- houses where 
officers often led children to squad cars along with the suspected 
lab operators.

Inside the homes, Van Dyke said researchers sometimes found meth 
residue covering everything, especially porous surface such as 
carpets, a dog's coat and childrens' stuffed toys.

"Some of the things we saw, the houses were just a mess," Van Dyke 
said. "It was really disheartening to think that children are living 
in these environments."

The center's work initially encompassed only the effects of meth 
exposure on first responders. As the focus expanded, the center 
conducted controlled "cooks" with DEA agents acting as "chefs" to 
determine the extent and longevity of harmful chemicals in 
residences. They found meth residue in houses where evidence 
suggested the last cook had occurred a week earlier, he said.

Sgt. Jason Grellner, commander of the Franklin County Narcotics 
Enforcement Unit, endorsed the legislation.

Currently property owners will turn to cleanup crews who normally 
deal with fire and flood damage, Grellner said. While those crews do 
clean the house, there is no standard for procedure or levels of 
decontamination.

"It's been haphazard because people will clean these properties to 
their own specifications, some doing a very good job and others not," 
Grellner said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman