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What is a Clandestine Laboratroy
Clandestine laboratories come in all sizes and are found in a variety of locations. The most common, and the fastest growing type of lab is the methamphetamine lab, or "crank" lab. Methamphetamine laboratories have been seized in homes in residential areas, vehicles, apartments, hotels, kitchens, bathrooms, garages and various other outbuildings. There are many different methods for producing methamphetamine. Each method has its own inherent dangers. Many of the chemicals used are caustic or corrosive, and some of the processes create noxious and harmful fumes. Additionally, many of the chemicals can be found in common household items such as lantern fuel, cleaners, acetone, muriatic acid, and diet pills. The most productive laboratories are commonly located in rural areas, such as farms, rural residences and forestry land. Rural areas are often targeted for laboratory manufacturing to avoid detection by law enforcement. Often these labs are larger and produce strong chemical odors which could be easily detected by neighbors. Though use of methamphetamine, or "meth," is still concentrated in the West, it continues to spread to the Midwest and East. In 1997 the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) seized more labs (435-Labs)in Missouri than in any other state, though the labs were smaller operations than those in Western states. Over the past five years Mexican drug organizations have replaced outlaw motorcycle gangs as the predominant methamphetamine producers, traffickers, and distributors in California and much of the western United States. Many different types of drugs, and the chemical precursors used to manufacture "crank" are smuggled across the border from Mexico. One downfall of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is that commercial trucks crossing the border from Mexico into the United States are inspected only once. After they are inspected they are free to go back and forth across the border without inspection. Large quantities of drugs and chemicals have been seized in commercial trucks at the border and throughout the United States after crossing the border from Mexico. These seizures are only the tip of the iceberg. Clandestine laboratories are commonly operated on an irregular basis. Operators often produce a "batch", or conduct one step in the process, then disassemble and store the lab, or move the lab to another location to complete the process. This is often done in order to avoid detection by law enforcement. Laboratories are often found in vehicles by patrol officers during traffic enforcement. It is not uncommon for a patrol officer to stumble across a laboratory inside a vehicle. Top of Page Meth labs are increasingly becoming a public safety hazard. Even months after a lab has been closed, chemical residue that has seeped into the carpet or wood can be dangerous. Police and Firefighters must take special safety courses to handle meth situations because of the likelihood of explosions, invisible poison gases and other dangers. People who come into contact with the highly toxic chemicals used to make the drug can become sick and prolonged exposure can lead to cancer. · One key ingredient, hydriodic acid, can dissolve flesh in seconds and has fumes so toxic small amountsd can collapse the lungs. There's red phosphorous, another ingredient which if mishandled, converts to yellow phosphorus and can ignite spontaneously.
So often, children become involved as innocent victims of methamphetamine manufacturing. These small helpless children are completely dependent upon their parents and are commonly exposed to potentially explosive operating laboratories with chemicals and deadly gases. An article in the Marysville, Calif. Appeal Democrat Newspaper on December 28th, 1995, talks about a suspected drug lab that exploded and three small children ages 1,2,& 3, died screaming as they were fatally burned. Their mother watched her kids screaming to her through a window and she was not able to help them. The majority of methamphetamine labs are of the smaller type where the "cooks" are using mason jars or sometimes pyrex dishes. These labs are extremely dangerous for several reasons:
Top of Page Methamphetamine does more than boost the crime rate, create drug addicts and turn normal lives into nightmares. Its manufacturing process presents an immediate environmental hazard. The cost of cleaning up these sites can be enormous. Most of the environmental problems arise when the cooking is actually taking place. Meth is made by taking ephedrine or super-ephedrine tablets, found in Sudafed and other decongestants, and heating them until the ephedrine is highly concentrated. It takes thousands of common ephedrine tablets to make one pound of meth. While the ephedrine itself is not that harmful, the chemicals used to cook it are. The drug is converted into "crank" using a combination of hidriotic acid and red phosphorus. Hidriotic acid is the principal chemical that generates the conversion. The ephedrine is the hardest chemical to obtain. Though it is readily available in decongestants, the low concentration makes it difficult to process efficiently. The average ephedrine pill is just 25 milligrams, and it is concentrated many times through the cooking process. When meth was first manufactured in the 1970s, the recipe called for lots of heavy metals. Contamination throughout the site was more common. The next cooking method used lots of solvents and caustic material, which would also be harmful, but was more likely to evaporate before it caused much trouble. One process calls for the cook to spray ether onto the oil that rises to the top at the end of cooking process. The ether dries out the oil and what is left is meth. One guy didn't want to wait for the ether to work, so he put the whole thing into the oven. He got caught because of the resulting explosion. The newest method, called the Nazi method, calls for a "cold cook" using liquid ammonia, dry ice and acetone. This type of lab is another type of ephedrine conversion lab that involves two common precursors that are easily obtained and can be purchased legally from any chemical outlet. This method produces a high yield and takes only 30 minutes to convert an ephedrine into methamphetamine. However, one of the precursors is extremely moisture reactive and explodes upon contact with water, or to an abundance of moisture in the air. This type of lab also produces strong odors and dangerous gases that can be dangerous to the public if they are exposed to them. Though the ammonia can be a problem, this is much better for the environment because everything evaporates so quickly. But, it is much harder on law enforcement agencies. The method can yield a batch of meth in less than an hour, as opposed to several days with the older methods, making it much harder to catch the criminals. A few years ago a senate bill was passed banning commercial sales of hidriotic acid. This put a major dent in the domestic manufacturing of "crank", until the laboratory operators determined that hidriotic acid can be manufactured using iodine crystals. Iodine crystals can be purchased legally through any chemical distributor however, the sale of iodine crystals is reportable to the DOJ. Veterinarians and people who shoe horses use iodine crystals to make their own slurry of iodine to be used as an antiseptic, this is the only known legitimate use for iodine crystals. Red phosphorus is used in the commercial manufacture of fireworks and similar incendiary devices. Top of Page Methamphetamine is a purely synthetic central-nervous-system stimulant of the amphetamine family. Amphetamines were first synthesized in the late nineteenth century by a German scientist; the synthesis of methamphetamine is attributed to a Japanese chemist in 1919. Historically, methamphetamine has had therapeutic uses. It also has been widely abused for its powerful stimulant effects. Amphetamine derivatives, such as methamphetamine, were developed in both oral and intravenous form. They were promoted as nonaddictive. In 1937, amphetamine became available by prescription in tablet form. It was used in the treatment of hyperactive children, Parkinson's disease, depression, and narcolepsy. When narcolepsy patients reported loss of appetite, it was discovered that amphetamines also worked as an anoretic. Japan was the first country to experience a methamphetamine epidemic. During World War II, large amounts of methamphetamine were produced for use by war-industry factory workers to aid output. Following the war, methamphetamine tablets, of which large quantities remained in store, were vigorously promoted by pharmaceutical companies and large quantities were sold to the Japanese public without prescription. Epidemic intravenous use of the drug soon followed. Although a prescription was required in the U.S., during the 1950s large quantities of amphetamines were sold by drug companies to bogus companies in care of post office boxes. "Bennies" or pep pills, as they were known, were used for nonmedical purposes by college students, athletes, truckers, and housewives, as well as thousands of veterans returning from the war with amphetamine habits. Use of methamphetamine expanded across the U.S. in this decade as production of the drug increased significantly. Amphetamines were being marketed to treat obesity, narcolepsy, hyperkinesis, and depression, but were being taken primarily to increase energy, decrease the need for sleep, and elevate mood. In the 1960s, doctors in San Francisco began prescribing amphetamine injections for treatment of heroin addiction. Widespread abuse followed as San Francisco pharmacies began selling injectable amphetamines without prescriptions, or with crudely forged prescriptions, or through bogus telephone orders from users posing as doctors. "Script-writers" appeared: physicians who, for the cost of an office visit, would write prescriptions for the drugs. In 1962, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies cracked down; eventually, amphetamine and methamphetamine were controlled under the Drug Abuse Control Act of 1965. Subsequent control in Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in 1970 placed restrictions, among other things, on the amounts of these drugs produced. Drug companies took their liquid, injectable products off the market, although they remained available to hospitals. In response to this market vacuum, illegal crystal-methamphetamine labs began to appear in the Bay Area (1). Intravenous methamphetamine abuse in the U.S. became prominent in the late 1960s particularly in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, where speed, as all amphetamines came to be known, began replacing drugs such as LSD and mescaline in popularity. Public education, massive reduction of federally approved production quotas, and treatment of abusers brought this epidemic under control, although motorcycle gangs, in particular, remained involved in the clandestine production of methamphetamine. During the rise in cocaine and crack abuse in the early 1980s, bikers and "dopers" in rural areas, where cocaine was less plentiful and too expensive, continued to favor "crystal meth" or "crank," which was typically snorted or injected. They produced the drug in crude laboratories via a simple process. Among the general U.S. population, the methamphetamine problem increased steadily. Unlike the earlier epidemic, abusers today are not limited to urban areas, and more women are involved. Top of Page Street methamphetamine is referred to by many names including "meth," "speed," "zip," "go-fast," "cristy," "chalk," and "crank." Pure methamphetamine hydrochloride, the smokable form of the drug, is called "L.A." or--because of its clear, chunky crystals--"ice," "crystal," "glass," or "quartz." Top of Page Precursor and main ingredient, of Methamphetamine Precursors are substances that, in nature, might be inactive. However, when combined with another chemical the result is a new product. Methamphetamine starts with an inactive or marginally-inactive compound (ephedrine or pseudoephedrine) and other chemicals are added to produce the drug The precursor and main ingredient, of Methamphetamine is ephedrine. This chemical is contained in many legal drugs, including bronchodilators, like Vick's Inhalant, decongestants, like Nyquil Nighttime Cold Medications, diet pills, and therapeutic agents like Dioxin. Because of the restraints placed on the sales and possession of ephedrine, operators of Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs started extracting pseudoephedrine from legally produced over the counter diet pills, decongestants, and bronchodilator, such as "Mini-Thins", "MaxAlert", "Sudafed", "Pharmacist Value Suphedrine", etc.. While one or two empty bottles in the trash might indicate a bad cold or sinus problem, anything beyond that is a possible clue of lab activity. Other legally purchased items which have been found in Clandestine Labs are Iodine Crystals, Red Phosphorous, (Sometimes extracted from matchbooks), Isopropyl Alcohol, and Red Devil Lye. The Equipment used for manufacturing is as simple as having Coleman stoves, aquariums pumps or Swamp cooler pumps, several pieces of glassware, rubber tubing, Pyrex dishes, and mason jars. Cooking time is reduced, from 24 to 36 hours, using the P-2-P method, to as little as, 4 to 6 hours, using the new cold or matchbook method (which appears to be a unique Utah method). Top of Page Methamphetamine can be smoked, injected intravenously, snorted, or ingested orally. The most frequent method of methamphetamine use is injection. Chronic, high-dose methamphetamine abusers, often called "speed freaks," are generally undernourished with a gaunt appearance, poor hygiene, and rotten teeth. These individuals inject methamphetamine every 2 to 3 hours and often as much as 1,000 milligrams each time. Due to the high level of methamphetamine in their systems, "speed freaks" are extremely paranoid. The drug alters mood in different ways, depending on how it is taken. Immediately after smoking or intravenous injection, the user experiences an intense "rush" or "flash" that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Smoking or injecting produces effects fastest, within 5 to 10 seconds. Snorting or ingesting produces euphoria--a high but not a rush. Snorting produces effects within 3 to 5 minutes, and ingesting orally produces effects within 15 to 20 minutes. But overall the drug stimulates the central nervous system, with effects lasting anywhere from four to 24 hours. Methamphetamine is used in pill form, or in powdered form by snorting or injecting. Crystallized methamphetamine known as " ICE," "crystal," or "glass," is a smokable and more powerful form of the drug. The effects of methamphetamine use include:
Top of Page Methamphetamine laboratory operators often are well-armed, and their laboratories occasionally are booby-trapped and equipped with scanning devices employed as security precautions. Weaponry, ranging from single firearms to arsenals of high-powered weapons and explosives, are commonly found at laboratory sites. Laboratory operators, or "cooks," frequently display little concern for public safety or the environment. Cooks vary from high school dropouts with no real chemistry education to professionals with graduate degrees in chemistry. Typically, however, these cooks have little formal training . Instead, they follow a handwritten recipe or have learned to produce methamphetamine from underground publications, apprenticeships, or fellow inmates during periods of incarceration. Some laboratory operators act as their own chemists, while others hire chemists to run the laboratories for them. Many manufacturers are independent producers who cook for various organized groups. This is particularly true of larger organizations that may hire or contract chemists to manufacture methamphetamine in return for cash, finished product, or a combination of both. Other cooks manufacture for themselves rather than for a particular organization. Top of Page Meth can have a bizarre effect on some. While high on meth, Eric Smith thought his 14-year-old son was demon-possessed. He murdered his son, cut off the boy's head, and tossed it out of the window of his van. One young woman entered an emergency room and demanded that her brain be returned to her. Immediately, the hospital staff physically restrained and sedated her, but before the sedation took effect, the young woman trashed back and forth on the gurney. In her psychotic state, she screamed, Give me my brain back! I'm dying! I don't want to die without my brain! Such irrational and often violent behavior is common among meth abusers. Meth users have been known to go as much as 19 to 20 days of no sleep. They are very dangerous, paranoid, talking weapons. Some hold themselves in a house, take hostages and begin shooting out the windows." Top of Page Methamphetamine: A potent high that kills your brain cells.... To understand how methamphetamine works on the brain is to understand a cruel joke. At low doses the drug can block hunger, focus attention, steady the heart and boost endurance. That's why virtually every major military power this century has tried giving methamphetamine or amphetamines to its soldiers in battle. But try to tell a battle-weary soldier not to take too much of a good thing. They ended up with troops confused, making bad decisions and going psychotic. Every day there are desperate people making the same mistake: smoking, snorting and injecting high doses of a drug that briefly makes the body feel good, but kills the the brain along the way. Users of the drug can become walking zombies. They often have paranoid fantasies that are fueled by days without sleep and/or food, only craving for more of the drug. Methamphetamine works like this: it sends a message to brain cells to fire more dopamine, a feel-good chemical that is also critical to normal brain functioning. Hours after it's ingested, cell receptors begin to turn off to slow the flow of dopamine, and here's where methamphetamine differs from other stimulants, such as cocaine. While other stimulants allow brain cells to capture and repackage the dopamine, methamphetamine doesn't. The brain cells respond by releasing an enzyme to knock out the extra dopamine. With repeated use, those enzymes eventually kill the dopamine cell, and that leads to a chemical change in the way your brain works. Ever heard of Parkinson's Disease? That's what you look like. You lose things like motivation, you become apathetic. You eventually lose interest in pleasurable things ... If you liked to go fishing, well, fishing just doesn't excite you anymore." This methampetamine-induced brain damage has been proven in animals, but no humans have ever been tested because it would require dissection of the brain. As the drug's doing its damage, the brain begins to crave more as it becomes better at shutting off its effects. It's kind of like listening to loud music. After a while, it doesn't seem so loud. You need a lot more of the drug to maintain the high. Abusers follow a classic pattern of consuming more and more of the drug before something happens like a car accident, arrest or family fight that scares them into quitting, but it doesn't last. Most addicts don't constantly use. It's not the fact that you can't quit. It's the fact that you can't stay quit ... You get back into it and it's off to the races. Doctors aren't sure why, but one-third of heavy users will develop bizarre, paranoid behavior and suffer hallucinations and voices in the mind that are as real as real gets. Individuals who seek treatment have a rough time kicking the drug, and can still suffer from psychosis for up to a half-year. Cravings, irritability, nightmares and depression are also common for months after someone goes cold turkey. The cravings eventually wane but sometimes the damage is irreparable but won't show for years. Top of Page Parents, teachers, ministers, youth club leaders and the media must start to raise the awareness level in our young people. For example: Is your child on a self imposed "diet" and losing weight? Does your child seem to be able to stay awake for long periods of time to "crash study"? Has your youngster become more aggressive and seem very stimulated while competing in athletic events? How is your youngster's mood? Does he or she seem to be more belligerent and harder to control? It could be they are taking Meth. Top of Page · Stimulated movement and speech · Feelings of excitement and euphoria · Increased energy · Decreased appetite, nausea · Lack of sleep · Irritability, nervousness · Increased blood pressure and heart rate · "Pounding heart" sensation, palpitations, hot flashes, dry mouth, Sweating · Burns on fingers from covering the vent hole of the "ice" pipe Tweakers while high find it hard to control their mouths, usually they click their tongues, move tongue around, their jaw moves, they bite their lips. Really hard core tweakers pick at themselves, chicken pox looking scabs are a telltale sign of hard use. These people pick at themselves because they think the meth is coming out of their pores in the form of crystals and they try and pick the crystals out. Bad breath and dry mouth is another sure sign. Usually while tweaking the person's eyes are dialated, even in bright light. Top of Page Signs of Long Term or Excessive Use
Top of Page Patterns of Abuse - Precautions for Law Enforcement Officers !! Methamphetamine abuse has three patterns: low intensity (does not involve psychological addiction), binge, and high intensity . The binge and high-intensity abusers smoke or inject meth to achieve a faster and stronger high; the patterns of abuse differ in the frequency in which the drug is abused and the stages within their cycles. The binge abuse cycle is made up of these stages: rush, high, binge, tweaking, crash, normal, and withdrawal. Rush (5-30 minutes)--The abuser's heartbeat races and metabolism, blood pressure, and pulse soar. Feelings of pleasure.
High-intensity abusers, often called "speed freaks," focus on preventing the crash. But each successive rush becomes less euphoric and it takes more meth to achieve it. The pattern does not usually include a state of normalcy or withdrawal. High-intensity abusers experience extreme weight loss, very pale facial skin, sweating, body odor, discolored teeth and scars or open sores on their bodies. The scars are the results of the abusers' hallucinations of bugs on his skin, often referred to as "crank bugs," and attempts to scratch the bugs off. Some treatment providers express concern for the collateral consequences of "binge" and high-intensity methamphetamine abuse: domestic violence, child neglect and abuse. At the most violent, irritable, and paranoid phases of the binge, children are at risk of physical abuse, "shaken baby" syndrome, or worse. In one highly publicized case, an Arizona man, high on methamphetamine, decapitated his 14- year-old son, believing him to be a demon, and tossed the dismembered head onto a New Mexico public highway. Top of Page The most dangerous stage of meth abuse for abusers, family, friends, the public, medical personnel, and law enforcement officers is called "tweaking." Consuming the drug continuously for up to 3 days without sleep, the user is driven into a severe depression, followed by worsening paranoia, belligerence, and aggression. Finally, the user collapses from exhaustion, only to awaken days later to begin the cycle again. The new ephedrine-based methamphetamine has a usage pattern unlike that of traditional methamphetamine or crack cocaine. Several times more potent than its other forms, today's methamphetamine produces a reaction far more severe than even crack cocaine, with sleepless binges that last up to 15 days and end with intolerable crashes. Tweakers often behave or react violently and if a tweaker is using alcohol or another depressant, his negative feelings and associated dangers intensify. The tweaker craves more meth, but no dosage will help re-create the euphoric high, which causes frustration, and leads to unpredictability and potential for violence. A tweaker can appear normal: eyes can be clear, speech concise, and movements brisk. But a closer look will reveal the person's eyes are moving ten times faster than normal, the voice has a slight quiver, and movements are quick and jerky. These physical signs are more difficult to identify if the tweaker is using a depressant. Tweakers are often involved in domestic disputes and motor vehicle accidents. They may also be present at "raves" or parties and they may participate in spur-of-the-moment crimes, such as purse snatchings or assaults, to support their habit. Detaining a tweaker alone is not recommended and law enforcement officers should call for backup. Top of Page Safety Tips for Approaching a Tweaker
Top of Page Is There A Meth Lab In Your Neighborhood? Many people may be unaware that they're living near a meth lab. Here are some things to look for: · Unusual, strong odors similar to the that of fingernail polish remover or cat urine.
Top of Page If you suspect a problem with methamphetamines and/or other drug use, please contact the National Drug Information Treatment and Referral Hotline at (800) 662-HELP(4357). They can supply you with:
Top of Page Methamphetamine, as well as many other drugs, is a serious problem. "Meth" ruins lives, fills jails, floods courts and frustrates police officers. WE need your help!! Report any suspicious activity to your nearest law enforcement agency.
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