W. Alan Beckelheimer "Something To Think About ..." Published Sept. 20, 2004

The signs don't lie about the presence of meth in your neighborhood

Samuel Adams, one of the great leaders of the American Revolution once said, "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

I believe that this quote fits the situation in which we find ourselves as a community in relation to the epidemic that is methamphetamine.

Adams was speaking to incite his fellow colonials to action, to drive them in their efforts to liberate themselves from a foreign oppressor.

Our community also faces oppression, but it isn't in the form of a foreign nation, but a foreign entity or substance, if you will, methamphetamine.

As a community we have but two simple choices regarding what we will do collectively in response to meth's invasion of our homes and families.

The first choice, and the one being exercised by some citizens in our community (knowingly or not), is to turn a blind eye to the problem and allow it to run rampant, leaving broken families and eventually communities in its wake. This point of view is akin to allowing yourself to being shackled by an oppressor. You may not feel all that oppressed at any certain time but over the course of time you are affected, nonetheless.

The second choice regarding our communities' stance on methamphetamine is to stand and doggedly fight it until it is pushed into oblivion. Ideally, this is the stance that would be taken by all members of our community that have the welfare of their fellow man in mind.

Whether you realize it or not, we as a collective community have the power to affect positive change in the battle against methamphetamine.

At this point, one might ask how they can contribute to this communities' battle against meth. There are several ways which I will commense to enumerate.

First of all there are the obvious indicators, rumors concerning a meth lab in the area, bad or unfamiliar smells, odd calling times, night owls and unusual traffic in your area. If you are experiencing anything akin to this in your neighborhood, it should raise your suspicion.

Secondly, if you notice someone taking out excessive quantities of trash (i.e. more and different types of trash that seem usual), it could be a sign that this neighbor is running a meth lab.

Some items to watch for in the trash are: large quantites of cold tablet containers (i.e. sudafed, etc.), jars containing clear liquid with a white-colored solid caked to the bottom, coffee filters containing a white pasty substance (or dark red sludge or small quantities of shiny white crystals), bottles or jars with rubber tubing attached, glass cookware or frying pans containing a powdery residue, numerous cans of camping fuel, industrial chemicals and cleaning products, large amounts of batteries or propane tanks.

The next question that needs to be addressed is what should be done once your suspicion has been aroused as to the possible presence of a meth lab.

First of all stay far away from the suspect location. Do not enter the location as meth labs constitute a toxic environment that is very volatile. Handling chemicals or equipment can cause the chemicals used for the drug to combust. Be sure to warn other neighbors of your suspicion. This will keep your neighbors safe, thereby further protecting the community from any inadvertent encounters with an environment that could destroy their health. Diligent neighborhood watch programs would also serve to help community members police their vicinity. This would serve two purposes. The first would be to increase the presence in your locality of law abiding citizens with a staked interest in keeping their community free from meth. The second benefit provided by a neighborhood watch would be the providing of a structure in a community with which local law enforcement officials could readily communicate. Thus if police or sheriff's department deputies were looking for a vehicle or person known to them as a meth user, cooker or dealer they could alert neighborhood watch leaders, who could in turn pass the description on to their organization thereby increasing the chances that the suspect is apprehended.

Finally call your local police department. In Tennessee you can call the Meth Hotline at 1-877-TNN-METH.

Even if you are absolutely sure of the presence of meth or a meth lab in your community, your only job as a citizen is to phone the police and let them know of your suspicions. After that, it is up to the police to handle the situation.

It is my personal belief that education is the first step to recognizing methamphetamine problems in our community.

In educating myself concerning the nature of this evil epidemic that exists in our community, I have attempted to inform the community concerning the dangers meth wields against us every day.

Meth's presence touches everyone in our community, whether or not there is a functioning lab next door to your house. Many meth cooks dump the toxic by products of their poison onto the ground, but it doesn't stay there. No, these chemicals seep into our water supply and are so noxious that not all of them can be filtered out by our water filtration system. Fighting meth costs us taxpayer dollars as we citizens are forced to pay for the defense of suspects in meth cases, pay for the medical bills of inmates that have ravaged their health by using meth, pay for dental bills for these same people, pay money to jail them, and sadly the list goes on and on. So we are all affected by meth, whether or not we use it, cook it or have any involvement with it.

Don't you think its time we did something about meth instead of sitting by and watching it rob our of burgeoning community of so much of its potential and beauty?

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W. Alan Beckelheimer is a Crossville Chronicle staffwriter. His column appears each Wednesday in the Chronicle.