2012 annual report - Ashland Police Department

Meth and YouI remember as a young officer manyyears ago, I was sitting in a Departmentof Criminal Justice training course andthe topic was methamphetamines. AsI sat there the instructor explained thedifferent facets and ingredients of methI thought to myself, “I hope we neversee this in Ashland, KY.” The storieswere horrific of injured children andfamilies torn apart and for the first timein my life I heard someone tell me theyuse camping fuel, fertilizer and otherhousehold chemicals, mixed them allup with cold medicine and put them intheir bodies. I was well-versed in cocaine,marijuana and prescription narcotics, butthis concoction seemed unreal. As thetraining progressed, I found myself moreand more confused and could only askhow, what and why. The training seemedto fly by. I left that day of trainingdazed and confused, gaining enoughknowledge to pass an exam but still notreally grasping the concept. I left saying,“We don’t have meth in Ashland, KY and Ihope we never get it.”Now, to present day, I have severalmore years experience under my belt andeven a stint with the Kentucky State PoliceDrug Enforcement Special InvestigativeUnit where I was told I would be goingthrough an extensive training program onClandestine Labs. As most of us would,when I think of a lab I think back to highschool chemistry with all kinds of beakersand tubes. I heard the term super labsmentioned, well let’s just say the trainingwasn’t what I was expecting.Instead of beakers and tubes Iwas introduced to a world of plasticbottles and rubber tubing. You seemethamphetamines or the substancereferred to as “meth,” “speed,” “crystal,” or“ice,” is not a glamorous lab. It was dirtyand unkept.The list of meth ingredients readslike the normal everyday items eachof us would have around our homes;mason jars, propane tanks, campingfuel, ammonia nitrate (fertilizer), starterfluid, coffee filters, funnels, salt, peroxide,drain cleaner, lithium batteries andpseudoephedrine tablets. This was notthe lab or the ingredients I was expecting,to say the least.So, what is meth? You ask, or howdoes this affect me? Good questions.Methamphetamine is a centralnervous system stimulant similar toamphetamines. Methamphetamine is awhite, odorless, bitter tasting crystallinepowder. Methamphetamine can bedissolved in water or alcohol and istaken orally, through the nasal passages(snorting), by needle or smoking.Methamphetamine increases the releaseand blocks the reuptake of the brainchemical dopamine. This process leadsto a heavy dumping of the chemicalinto the brain. The release of Dopamineresults in high reward, motivation andthe experience of pleasure and increasedmotor function.I mentioned earlier I hoped Iwould never see meth in Ashland, KY.Unfortunately my hopes have beendashed. According to KSP crime statisticsin 2011 there was only 1 meth lab in BoydCounty and that lab was in Ashland, KY. Iremember, I was there to clean it up. As Istood in the parking lot my mind thoughtback to, “I hope we never get those inAshland” to “oh no they are here.” In 2012in Ashland, KY we have had 12 reportedlabs. The number 12 is not a largenumber but the cost statewide is. In 2010it was estimated that meth lab responsescost the state of KY $2.9 million and thenumber of labs responded to was 1,078.Statewide in 2011 there were 1,233 methlabs at a cost of around $3.3 million. Thenumbers are not yet out for 2012 but inAshland alone the 12 meth labs representa cost of $32,280, those dollar figures arepaid by the tax payer.Statics and numbers mean littlewhen compared to the cost to familiesand children. You see, we are all at riskwhen it come the production and useof meth. Meth does not see financial orracial boundaries. Its victims are bothyoung and old. I refer to the one of themost recent cases of meth production Iinvestigated. The case was in a middleclassarea of town not where a suspectedmeth lab should be found. I remembersifting through a trash container filledwith flies and maggots, the smell. In thecontainer we found empty packages ofpseudoephedrine, ripped up batteries,melted plastic bottles with tubingin them, used cold packs and what Irefer to as a bomb. You see in order forsomeone to make meth they have tomake a bomb of ammonia nitrate andcamping fuel or similar chemicals. Aftersifting through the trash for a bit we wentinside the residence and there were stillmore signs of the production of methand drug use. The resident, a mother inher early 30’s was arrested, but to explainhow this affects you and me we need tolook no further than the back bedroomof the home. Inside the room we findpink blankets, stuffed animals and toysfor a little girl. To be precise a little redhead, freckle- face girl about 6 or 7 yearsof age. I will not display a photo of thischild I will only allow you to visualize herrosy cheeks and sparkling eyes as sheasks if mommy is going to jail. As we sayour good-byes I can only think of what isgoing on in the girls mind. Will she foreverdespise the police for taking her mom?Will her life ever be “normal?” Regardlessof her thoughts, her life is changed andinnocence has been lost all for the sakeof a high. Mommy will go to jail, I willclean the lab, stats will be generated butthe monetary price to society seems tofade as the living price stands on her frontporch and waves goodbye.Det. Brian Clark