Meth labs

DEFINITION: A meth lab, or laboratory, is a clandestine location for producing the drug methamphetamine. Meth labs can range from high-scale labs in industrial warehouses to individually operated labs in homes to rolling meth labs in the back of a car. In common usage, meth lab refers to small labs found in sheds, garages, hotel rooms, recreational vehicles, and trailers that produce enough methamphetamine for personal use and a limited amount to sell.

History

Methamphetamine, also known as meth, crystal meth, or ice, is a psychostimulant that works in the central nervous system and provides a temporary feeling of euphoria and energy. There is a legal form of methamphetamine called Desoxyn that is occasionally prescribed for attention deficit disorder, obesity, and narcolepsy; this, too, is abused. Crystal meth is much cheaper to obtain and easy to make.

Laws passed in 1983 prohibited the sale and possession of meth and prohibited the possession and use of meth-producing equipment. Before this time, meth production was primarily located in California, mostly because of ties with Mexican meth labs. By 1989, the US government restricted over-the-counter sales of the cold medicines Sudafed and Contac, drugs whose ingredients, pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, were being used to manufacture meth, most often in home labs. This law, however, led to a noticeable rise, and not a reduction, in the number of meth labs around the United States, including in the Midwest and the South. These two regions offer something especially attractive to meth production: anhydrous fertilizer.

The passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 placed several restrictions on the sale of nonprescription cold and allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine, a precursor to methamphetamine. The restrictions included limiting the amount of pseudoephedrine individual customers could purchase to 3.6 grams per day and 9 grams every thirty days; keeping pseudoephedrine products behind the counter or in locked cabinets; requiring customers to show photo identification at the time of purchase; and keeping a record of customer names and addresses, products and quantities bought, and date and time of purchase. Furthermore, retailers are required to keep these records for two years after purchase.

The Production of Meth

Meth production is not complicated, but it is extremely dangerous. Several “recipes” are freely available online, and many of the ingredients are easily found in one’s kitchen and at local drug stores. A batch can be made in something as simple as an empty two-liter soda bottle.

Meth production includes different combinations and different chemical reactions. Some are more popular, given the availability of certain chemicals, such as fertilizer (anhydrous ammonia), but all techniques are dangerous. The most common technique is called red, white, and blue and involves the use of red phosphorus, pseudoephedrine or ephedrine (from cold tablets), and iodine. The reaction with the red phosphorus produces an odor that is not only toxic but also extremely foul. The odor has been described as that of rotting fish, dirty diapers, and human corpses. Another popular production method is Birch reduction (or Nagai method), which uses metallic lithium from lithium batteries. This method is highly flammable.

One relatively new style of making methamphetamine called shake and bake became increasingly popular in the late 2000s because it requires only a few cold tablets. The meth can be made anywhere, and it produces enough of the drug to provide a few “hits.” Shake and bake, sometimes called the one-pot method, is when household chemicals are added to a two-liter soda bottle. The result is an extremely dangerous and highly flammable liquid. If oxygen gets into the bottle or the bottle is not shaken correctly, the bottle’s contents can explode. The discarded bottles filled with brownish sludge can also be dangerous and poisonous.

In the early 2000s, mobile meth labs, such as the RV popularized in the television series Breaking Bad (2008–13), started to make headlines. Used as a way to avoid detection, rolling meth labs allowed producers to keep the toxic fumes from accumulating and avoid contaminating their living quarters with dangerous chemicals. Vehicles used as rolling meth labs have included motorcycles, pickup trucks, rental cars, and tractor-trailers. In the United States, the number of rolling meth labs reported by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) rose from 869 in 1999 to 1,307 in 2001. The agency noted that it is not required to report the number of mobile meth labs, however, making it difficult to know how many there are. Several states have passed laws requiring car dealers to let prospective customers know if a vehicle has possibly been contaminated by methamphetamine residue.

Because of strict laws and protocols that restricted access to meth’s critical ingredients, by the late 2010s, most meth consumed in the United States was produced and distributed by drug cartel-run labs in Mexico. Local production in rural makeshift labs remained operational in the US but on a much smaller scale. Many US labs began only transforming powder or liquid methamphetamine smuggled in from Mexico into crystal methamphetamine. When Mexican authorities began cracking down on meth production, they banned pseudoephedrine. Soon after, Mexican labs began producing meth using a process called P2P, which does not require pseudoephedrine. Consistent with reduced US production, the number of meth laboratory incidents plummeted in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. After peaking in 2004 at over 23,500 accidents, accidents decreased to less than 1,000 each year by the 2020s, though there was a spike in 2010.

Environmental and Social Effects

Meth has devastating physical effects on its users, and meth labs can be extremely dangerous for other reasons. First, the chemicals used to synthesize meth give off noxious fumes, causing inhalation injuries and contact burns to the “cooker,” the person in charge of the chemical reactions that produce meth. Second, the combination of chemicals can lead to explosions. Finally, these chemicals create a toxic environment.

A property that has been used as a meth lab is no longer fit for human inhabitation. Toxic chemicals become embedded in the walls, floors, and ceiling. Safety experts insist that it is better to tear such a property down than to try to clean it. After teardown, the property requires a complete and thorough safety check that includes the surrounding area.

Meth labs also pose a special danger to law enforcement. Many labs are booby-trapped with explosives or more primitive traps using sharp objects. These traps often remain after a meth lab has been abandoned. The main danger is chemical inhalation and burns due to explosions. Cleanup requires the use of hazardous materials gear.

Social services agencies report that children are most at risk from meth labs. It is common for both parents to be cookers or, at minimum, users, leaving children without proper care. One common scenario is poisoning caused by an unsupervised child eating or drinking inside the meth lab.

Bibliography

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