Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro has declared the production of the illegal drug methamphetamine a serious menace in Ohio, but reports about the exact number of meth labs vary depending on the reporting agency.
In 2004, 354 meth labs were seized in Ohio, and the cleanup of these labs cost state and federal taxpayers about $700,000, according to a news release from the attorney general's office.
However, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported that only 286 labs were seized in Ohio in 2004, and statistics prepared by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute for the 2005 Midwestern Governors Association Regional Meth Summit showed that 374 labs were seized in Ohio.
Representatives from reporting agencies said the differences in those numbers are because of who reports meth labs and who receives those reports.
Not all incidences of meth lab seizures are reported to the same agencies, said Tom Senecal, the resident agent in charge for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
For example, the DEA's data is largely collected by an outside agency, the El Paso Intelligence Center in Texas, Senecal said.
Local law enforcement officials are asked to report all meth lab seizures they have each year to that agency, but not every meth lab is reported because of arbitrary reporting procedures, he said.
While the production of methamphetamine is increasing in Ohio, the number of meth producers and users in the state is small, said Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services.
We still don't have what we would consider any kind of epidemic use in Ohio
she said. We do have small numbers that have quadrupled in the past five years but it's still important to note that they're still really small numbers.
Methamphetamine is an illegal substance that can be made anywhere and there are recipes for it on the Internet, Senecal said. The drug is dangerous because of its highly addictive properties and because its production involves volatile chemicals that are environmentally and physically harmful, he said.
The primary ingredient used in making methamphetamine is pseudoephedrine - the main ingredient in common cold medicine. Meth cooks combine pseudoephedrine with other ingredients found in drain cleaner, cat box litter, lighter fluid, acetone and salt pellets to make meth, said Bob Beasley, a spokesperson for the Ohio attorney general's office.
Attorney General Petro recently signed a bill - which will take effect in May - that restricts the sale of pseudoephedrine. The bill requires any medicine containing pseudoephedrine as its main ingredient be placed behind the counter at stores. Only people 18 years or older will be able to purchase the drug and only in quantities less than 9 grams in a 30-day period.
The attorney general's efforts to curb meth are primarily driven by the common nature of meth's ingredients, Beasley said.
Attorney General Petro's efforts to curb methamphetamine production in Ohio are primarily aimed at shutting down the clandestine
or mom-and-pop
meth labs where much of the meth in Ohio is made, Frohnapfel-Hasson said.
The labs have come to become a bigger problem than the drug itself
she said.
The labs are usually in homes or other private areas, such as car trunks, she said, and they are used to cook meth for private use or use by a circle of 40 to 50 acquaintances.
While Senecal said the DEA has a pretty big presence in Ohio
he did not know if many meth labs were present in Southeast Ohio or the Athens area.
Lt. David Williams of the Athens Police Department said he is certain there are meth labs in Athens, but the staffing shortage at APD makes enforcing drug laws difficult.
Terry Koons, OU's assistant director for substance abuse education, said meth users report feeling powerful and very highly sexualized. He said OU students do not commonly use the drug because many students see meth as a hard drug and know it is very addictive.
We have not seen any indication of methamphetamine being used (by students)
he said. There's no report of it in our drug and alcohol survey
but that doesn't mean it's not being used.
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