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.
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