Iowans warned about dangers of one-pot meth labs

Iowa's drug “czar” Wednesday warned Iowans to be on the lookout for smaller scale, but just as dangerous, homemade meth cooking operations.

Gary Kendall, director of the state's Office of Drug Control Policy, said efforts to curb access to pseudoephedrine as a precursor ingredient in manufacturing methamphetamine and other measures have caused some meth-makers to turn to different cooking methods that are no less dangerous in causing lab fires or explosions.

Heightened safety concerns prompted Kendall to issue an alert for Iowans to take precautions, especially as colder weather moves in, that could prevent them from becoming victims of meth-related tragedies.

“As some meth cooks turn to the more-flammable ‘one-pot' or ‘shake-and-bake' methods of making the illegal drug, and as colder weather begins to drive more meth cooks indoors, we're asking Iowans to be on the lookout, stay safe and immediately report suspicious activity,” said Kendall, who noted that Iowa law officers turned up seven cases last year but had at least 28 reports of one-pot cookers out of 196 clandestine meth lab discoveries through September this year.

“It's just come on the scene here in Iowa over the last year. It's really taken off in some other states, Missouri and Oklahoma has had a lot them,” he said. “We've found them in people's backpacks walking around or in their cars or in their apartments or various places, so it presents some unique challenges for law enforcement and, unfortunately, it exposes folks to the danger of explosion if people are going to be dumb enough to do this in a multi-unit dwelling.”

Kendall said the potential for trouble is heightened for residents of apartments and multi-family homes where a fire or explosion could endanger many lives and he urged anyone encountering a ‘one-pot' meth lab to quickly move away from it and call 911 to report it to authorities. He said ‘one-pot' meth labs were suspected in recent apartment fires in central Iowa that resulted in serious injuries and property damage.

“One-pot labs can be more dangerous than other meth labs because the two-liter plastic soda bottles or similar small containers often used are not made to handle the pressure created by the chemical reaction used to make meth,” said Kevin Frampton, director of the state Department of Public Safety's narcotics enforcement division.

“Retailers should watch for repeated purchases of garden fertilizer or cold packs, cold or allergy products containing pseudoephedrine, and lithium batteries,” he added.

Kendall said a ‘one-pot' meth lab does not give off strong odors to tip off others that the illegal substance is being produced. He also said that, because a meth cook would typically hold the container, the risk is greater of burns from flash fires if the process goes awry.

The Iowa drug policy coordinator said the number of clandestine met labs reported in calendar year 2009 was 267, which was down 82 percent from the peak of about 1,500 lab reports in 2004 – the year before legislative action was taken to regulate pseudoephedrine products by putting them behind the counters at retail outlets. Authorities followed up that action by recently implementing an electronic tracking system of pseudoephedrine sales at Iowa pharmacies that is compatible with similar networks in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, he said.

Given all that effort to disrupt the supply chain, Kendall said there has not been a drop-off in the amount of meth available in Iowa since much of the illegal product is imported from outside sources.

One outgrowth of the stepped-up enforcement has been that meth cookers have gone to making smaller batches that are more mobile and harder to detect, he noted.

“They do adapt. They're very resourceful and, if they want to get meth, they're going to figure out a way to do it,” Kendall said.