| BY JANET WILSON Staff Writer 10/23/2002
A video presentation on methamphetamine and methamphetamine
labs conducted Tuesday night at White County Central High School by narcotics officers
Clayton Edwards and Greg Williams from the White County Sheriff's Department began with an
explanation of what methamphetamine is.
"Methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant,
similar to cocaine," Edwards explained. "It's an off-white, bitter tasting white
powder."
He went on to explain to the audience that methamphetamine
was used by the Japanese during World War II to keep its troops awake. In 1919, he said
meth was synthesized into its current form. In the process, he said a new means to
manufacture the substance was also developed which lowered the cooking time from 72 hours
to four hours.
"In 1963, the first meth lab was seized in
California," Edwards said. "In the 1980's, Mexican nationals began cooking meth
in the United States using 50 gallon drums which would make 25 to 30 pounds of meth."
He said it wasn't until 1997 that the U.S. government
finally recognized the existence of a meth epidemic. Edwards then showed the audience a
graph that reflected the number of meth labs seized in Arkansas from 1993-2000.
"In 1993, there were only four to five meth labs seized
in Arkansas," he said referring to the graph. "In 2000, that number increased to
756 labs seized."
One graphic in the presentation was a map of White County
which had a line dividing the county into a northern half and a southern half. Edwards
explained to the audience that there are essentially two methods of manufacturing meth;
the red phosphorous method and the ammonia method. Referring to the map, he said that meth
makers in the southern half of the county tend to prefer the red phosphorous method, while
those in the northern half appear to prefer the method that requires ammonia.
He explained that when manufacturers use the red phosphorous
method, they use several boxes of matches in order to use the red phosphorous tips.
"It you go into the grocery store and you see someone
buying five boxes of matches, I want you to follow him to his vehicle, write down his
license plate number, and call me because he is harvesting red phosphorous," Edwards
said.
He said a deadly hazard associated with this method of
cooking meth is the phosphine gas that can be produced during the cooking process.
"You can't smell it," he said. "But one
breath of it will kill you."
Cooking meth with ammonia is also hazardous he explained,
because ammonia gas robs the immediate atmosphere of oxygen. He also explained that both
methods of making meth involve the use of volatile, flammable chemicals that can explode.
"A half gallon of ether will blow a mobile home
apart," he said.
Edwards also provided information regarding meth labs that
could be helpful to area fire fighters, and explained the difference between a regular
fire and a lab fire.
"Several cans of camp fuel ought to throw up a red
flag," he said.
He added that several ripped up matchboxes and lots of
chemical cans should also send a signal to fire fighters that a fire is probably meth
related.
"Most of your winter fires are going to be the result
of a bad lab," he said.
Edwards emphasized that while the sheriff's department has
worked hard to reduce the number of operational meth labs in White County, he said the
biggest tool in reducing the numbers even further is through the help of the public.
"We've made a lot of them scared to push," he said
of the department's efforts. "They're getting more creative, therefore we have to be
more creative."
Edwards and Williams will be on hand Thursday, October 24,
at 7 p.m. in the Beebe High School auditorium to conduct a second meth awareness
presentation. |
