Pubdate: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 Source: Record-Courier (OH) Copyright: 2007 Record Publishing Company Contact: http://www.recordpub.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/809 Author: Dave O'Brien, Record-Courier staff writer ROOTSTOWN METH LABS LEAVE LASTING EFFECTS ROOTSTOWN -- On the street it is called crank, chalk, ice, crystal and quartz. But methamphetamine, by any name, and the process by which it is manufactured subject the "cooks" who manufacture it and those who track down and clean up clandestine meth labs to hidden health dangers. The drug is popular because it is easy to manufacture -- recipes are readily available on the Internet -- and can be injected, ingested, snorted or smoked, according to William Franks, commissioner for the Stark County Combined General Health District and a faculty member at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. "You don't have to be a chemist or a chemical engineer," to make meth, he told an audience recently as part of a public health lecture series at NEOUCOM. In the past several years, Franks, his agency and some of his NEOUCOM students have been studying the lasting effects of methamphetamine labs in Stark County. Northeastern Ohio meth cooks typically use large amounts of red phosphorous, easily obtained from match heads, and chemicals such as antifreeze, drain cleaner and ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from over-the-counter cold medicine to make the drug. Clandestine labs can be recognized by the large amount of chemicals required by "cooks," no visible means of support by occupants who otherwise have large amounts of cash on hand, unusual late night traffic, blacked-out or covered windows and external security measures such as cameras. Franks said 8,290 meth labs were seized across the nation in 2001 alone. In 2005, that number jumped to 12,282. Each cost between $3,000 and $150,000, countless man hours and specialized skills and equipment to clean up. Ohio authorities seized 377 labs in 2005, half of them in Summit County. Two chemicals found in and resulting from illicit meth production are phosphine gas and anhydrous ammonia, which can do severe or even fatal damage to the human respiratory system. Anhydrous ammonia will "eat up anything with a water content," Franks said. Inhaled or absorbed through the skin, it disintegrates the mucous membranes and causes burns. Franks said his agency issues condemnation orders for any house or structure found to contain a meth lab and forces the property owner to either clean it themselves or contract with a cleanup agency at their own expense before allowing it to be re-occupied. Residue from methamphetamine manufacturing "won't go away unless it's cleaned up," Franks said. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath