METH PROBLEM WORSENS AS 'COOKS' SWAP RECIPES IN JAIL

They can't battle the methamphetamine problem alone.

And they're asking for the community's help.

That's what representatives from the Titusville Police Department and
Pennsylvania State Police told a small group that turned out at the
Pitt-Titusville's Henne Auditorium Monday.

"The problem's here and it's up to you folks to make a difference,"
state police Cpl. James Basinger said.

"The problem is in your town," he said. "Help these guys out."

Methamphetamine - or meth - has been a rapidly rising problem in the
area in the past few years. "Cooks" are preparing highly addictive
and dangerous drug in homes, hotel rooms, campers, shacks, barns and
wooded areas.

Forty-one labs were found in Crawford County in 2004 and 11 were
found in Venango County, according to Titusville police officer William Dilley.

But now there is a new problem, according to Basinger.

Those who have been arrested for meth are meeting up with other meth
"cooks" in jail and swapping recipes, Basinger said.

"I'm not here to teach you how to make meth tonight," Basinger told
the group consisting of community members, college students and
professors, recovering addicts and their families and others.

Recipes can be found on the Internet, Basinger said.

Instead he was there to inform the public what police were dealing
with in homes that may be next door, around the block or in their back yards.

Two methods are prevalent in the Crawford County area - the Red P
Method and the Birch Method, Basinger said.

The Red P Method uses water, iodine, red phosphorus and ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, he said. This method requires an outside heat source
like a hot plate.

The Red P Method is the most common in the Titusville area, he said.

But in the Saegertown area, the Birch Method is commonly used.

The Birch Method calls for ephedrine/pseudoephedrine, anhydrous
ammonia or liquid fertilizer and lithium metal, Basinger said.

This method does not require an outside heat source. It's common for
a cook using this method to combine the ingredients and take them to
a wooded or other secluded outdoor area, leave the mixture for a
short amount of time then come back later for the finished product.

From time to time, police will issue announcements alerting the
public, mostly hunters and outdoor enthusiasts, of the dangers of
finding coolers and other containers in the woods and along
roadsides. They could potentially be meth labs.

But this method is spreading now that meth cooks are meeting other
meth cooks in jail and swapping recipes, Basinger said.

"The problem is spreading out," Basinger said. "New groups are forming."

Basinger, Dilley and Capt. Gary Thomas of the Titusville Police
Department told the group some things that indicate a meth lab.

"The problem is in the city and we're trying to address that as much
as we can," Dilley said. "You can be part of the solution or part of
the problem."

They flashed several pictures of ramshackle buildings on a screen.
Some were rural. Some were in town. Many were choked by overgrown
weeds. The interiors of the homes were littered with layers of
clothing, food containers and pipes, tubes, jars and ingredient
containers for making meth.

"In your wildest dreams you can't imagine how these people live," Thomas said.

"Anybody who is addicted to crystal meth, that's all they're thinking
about," he said.

Another problem is that there is no law in Pennsylvania that requires
a homeowner to clean the house where a meth lab is found. Many people
are buying houses where these chemicals have seeped into the walls
and carpets, Dilley said.

Also, there is no state law restricting the sale of pills containing
pseudoephedrine, Basinger said. However, he added, some stores are
taking it upon themselves to place restrictions on the amount of
these pills that are sold at one time.

This is one of the ways the public is involving itself in the battle
against meth.

Business owners can report suspicious sales, including a large amount
of the items needed to make meth. They can write down a suspect's
description and get a license plate number.

Residents and property owners should pay attention to see if there
are a lot of people coming and going from nearby houses, especially
at odd hours of the day. Also someone cooking meth may have a large
amount of garbage, things like empty chemical containers.

There could be surveillance cameras around the property, make-shift
exhaust pipes, covered windows, unusual electrical connections or
continuously running fans or air conditioners.

Hunters and outdoor enthusiasts who stumble upon jars, coolers or
other containers are instructed not to open them. Instead they should
contact police.

Some of the most common items are used for cooking, ingesting or
transporting meth.

Some users hide meth for their personal use in lip balm tubes, light
bulbs, contact lens cases, straws and metal pipes and tubing.

But the public can do its part to help the police take care of this
problem by knowing what to look for and reporting what appears suspicious.

"Evil prospers when good people do nothing," Basinger told the group.