Fighting 'meth' in Warren County

Crystal methamphetamine -- commonly called "meth" -- has presented local police agencies with new challenges in the war on drugs.

Meth is a highly addictive stimulant that, unlike many other narcotics, can be made from scratch in homemade "labs" by average people using household chemicals and other ingredients found in the average American house or farm: cold medicine, solvents, cleaning agents, lantern fuel, fertilizer ingredients, volatile phosphorus and others.

Unlike cocaine and heroin, meth is not grown in some other country and smuggled across our borders. Meth is "grown" in our backyard.

But the way it's "grown" makes meth an even greater problem to society.

Combining these chemicals is dangerous. The reactions can give off toxic fumes or even start fires and explosions.

"Meth labs" are environmental hazards and are dangerous to the drug makers, police and any unsuspecting people who may be nearby. Many labs that have been found by police have later needed expensive clean-ups by specially trained and suited workers to remove soil and other items that have been contaminated.

The photos on this page are of the largest meth lab ever raided in Warren County. They were taken in summer 2000.