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KENDALLVILLE — Police have found 55 meth labs in Noble County this year, 24 in Kendallville, compared to 80 labs in the county and 39 in Kendallville in 2008.
The numbers may be down but the meth problem still exists, according to Kendallville police Detective Lance Waters and Cpl. Chris Shearer, the department’s newly trained clandestine lab technician. At Tuesday night’s town hall meeting, Waters and Shearer explained meth’s effects on users and the community and the one-pot method meth cooks now use for making the illegal and highly addictive drug.
Ninety percent of drug cases in the Midwest involve meth, said Waters. “It’s a big problem.”
Locally, a $100 gram of meth can give the user a six- to eight-hour high but lead to such paranoia and craving for more, the user cares about nothing else but his or her next fix, according to Waters. “I’ve seen people high on meth wearing goggles and carrying rifles so paranoid that someone is after them.”
Physical changes in meth users include loss of weight and hygiene, pale complexion, irritability, skin sores and rotting teeth. “It rots the teeth from the inside,” said Shearer. The sores are caused from constant scratching and picking at the skin by the meth user.
Mental changes include anxiety and then depression that can lead to suicide.
“Child neglect, child abuse and domestic violence are often associated with meth users,” said Waters. “They don’t care about anything.”
The most common method for using meth locally is called “smoking a boat.” The meth crystals or rocks are rolled in foil like a cigarette heated and then inhaled.
Up until 2005 meth cooks used anhydrous ammonia and other chemicals and large, stationary labs to produce meth. Indiana police reported 1,549 meth labs in the state in 2004, and 980 in 2005. Legislation was passed in 2005 regulating the purchase of ephedrine, another important chemical in meth manufacture.
At this same time meth cooks began using the so-called one-pot or “shake and bake” method that didn’t require anhydrous ammonia. The drug could be cooked in a 20-ounce plastic bottle. “It is harder to detect, very mobile, gives off fewer fumes, and is easily hidden,” said Waters. “Cooks tell us they can mix the chemicals in a bottle, drive to LaGrange, Ligonier and back to Kendallville and it would be done.”
The one-pot method is also dangerous. The chemical mix that includes lithium and water can explode or cause a fire. At least two house fires in Kendallville have been caused by meth lab explosions, according to Waters.
Meth cooks often toss their meth trash onto roadsides, creating a safety hazard for citizens.
Cleaning up a meth lab requires a specially-trained clandestine lab team from the Indiana State Police, and can tie up local police for hours waiting for the lab team to show up. That’s why Kendallville Police Chief Rob Wiley authorized special training for Shearer who can deal with meth trash and evaluate meth labs for cleanup purposes. Cleaning up a meth lab can cost thousands of dollars due to the volatile residue and special cleanup equipment needed.
Meth is the most addictive illegal drug on the street and only 6-10 percent of users are successfully rehabilitated. “The problem is they go to jail, get off the meth while in jail but when released they go right back to the friends who got them hooked,” said Waters.
Anyone finding what looks like meth lab trash should not touch it but call police. Anyone who suspects someone of using or making meth should report it. “Keeping the community advised on what’s new and encouraging the community to help us with this problem is important,” said Wiley.
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