Clandestine Labs

Imagine, you are sitting at home at your dining room table, reading the news paper and

then you hear a loud explosion. You get up and look out the window to see what has

happened and you notice that your next door neighbors house is on fire. You frantically

call 9-1-1 and tell them to send an ambulance and a fire truck immediately. After the

medical personnel have come and gone, a police officer knocks on your door and wants to

ask if you know any information about what has been going at your neighbors house. When the police officer informs you that the explosion was the result of a methamphetamine lab, you are completely in shock. Unfortunately, this scenario is being played out far too frequently. Clandestine labs, also

known as meth labs, are becoming increasing in numbers every year. A Clandestine lab is

a lab that is hidden and is used to illegally manufacture controlled substances such as

methamphetamine. These labs are very difficult to detect because "methamphetamines

can be produced with a variety of household products, in a small space, and in a relatively

short amount of time. As a result, meth labs are being discovered in hotel rooms, storage

units, fields, vacant buildings, campers, trunks of automobiles, and rural homes"

(Vandeveld). The most common items that are found at a meth lab are coffee filters,

pyrex containers, foil, mason jars, hot plate and pails. "All of these items have legitimate household uses and can be found throughout the home. When, however, they are found on the trunk of a car or located in the kitchen with the containers holding unknown chemical substances, illicit meth production use can be assumed" (Vandeveld). Methamphetamine is a very potent and addictive drug. There are many different ways to administer the drug, depending on what kind of effect is trying to be achieved. "Meth users snort, swallow, inject intravenously, or smoke the drug" (Vandeveld). There are many side-effects to this drug. "After short-term abuse, a user has a decreased appetite, increased energy, alertness, and insomnia. Violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, and homicidal thoughts are commonly seen when meth is chronically abused" (Vandeveld). Besides the detrimental effects that a meth lab can have on the individual running it, it can effect people in the surrounding environment and also children who may be living at or near the household. "Children are commonly victims of abuse, malnutrition, drug exposure,