METH USE CAN IMPACT ALL OF US, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN

As shoppers make holiday purchases with at local stores, most are
unaware of the possible dangers in the parking lot. Little do they
know that the contents in the trunk of the car next to theirs could
cause a fiery combustion at any moment if its owner has a makeshift
methamphetamine lab in the trunk, making it a threat to everyone and
everything near. While this might appear to be an unlikely scenario,
just a few days ago in Indiana, a man pleaded guilty of having a
makeshift meth lab in the trunk of his car in a Target parking lot on
the Indianapolis Southside. Vigilant Target employees became
suspicious after Gary Wynne purchased three boxes of Sudafed; they
began monitoring him through the parking lot security camera, watching
as he added the Sudafed to contents inside his trunk. Indiana law
enforcement is faced with similar situations every day. In addition to
the typical modes of making meth, users are increasingly innovative in
finding different outlets to make it, creating an even greater threat
to communities. Meth is produced when pseudoephedrine, a common
ingredient in cold medicine, and household cleaning products are
mixed, resulting in a highly addictive and dangerous drug. Many of the
chemicals used are extremely flammable, and when handled improperly,
can catch fire. Imagine how this threat increases if a meth lab is
stored in a moving vehicle. It may surprise some to learn that in
2004, 1,549 meth laboratories were seized by law enforcement agencies
throughout Indiana. The damages left by meth labs on our communities
are long-lasting. Residents caught manufacturing meth have exposed
themselves, their children and ultimately their neighborhoods to
toxic, explosive, hazardous environments. For every pound of meth
produced, five to six pounds of toxic waste are left behind?

Anyone present when meth is cooked is potentially exposed to these
dangerous toxins. In many cases, it is the children of meth cookers
who are affected.

Children removed from meth labs are frequently contaminated by
residual chemical and meth residue.

Last year, 217 children were found in labs seized in Indiana. They in
turn pose a threat to the rest of the community because the meth
residue can contaminate clothing, skin and hair. Has your child played
with one of these children?

Has one of these children been in your house and potentially
contaminated your family?

Do your kids play with children in labs that law enforcement has yet
to find? If you think you could spot a child from a drug home, think
again.

The parents may show signs of drug abuse but, typically, their
children look just like any other. Typically, meth users manufacture
this toxic substance because they are addicted to it, not because they
make money from selling it. Initially, people who use meth feels
euphoric, wonderful, exhilarated. But after a short period of abuse,
addicts displays symptoms similar to paranoid schizophrenia. They
become agitated, violent and unreasonable. Did you just stand beside
an addict in a line at the pharmacy or grocery store? It costs
thousands of taxpayer dollars to remove a child from a meth home,
arrest and prosecute a meth cook and place an addict in a recovery
program.

While the 2005 Indiana law restricting the sale of products containing
pseudoephedrine in pharmacies will not stop meth users like Gary Wynn,
it makes it harder for others to make meth in large quantities. The
next time you stand in line to purchase cold medicine, please be patient.

Your short wait and inconvenience are minor compared to another child
living in a toxic environment or one more person becoming addicted to meth.