Today's Poll: How concerned are you about 5 possible meth labs being found in the county?
Submitted by Howard Owens on March 3, 2010 - 11:25am
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March 3, 2010 - 11:41am
#2
Meth labs have typically been a rural problem, not big city. The reason being is that meth cookers like to steal anhydrous ammonia from farmers who have large tanks of it sitting next to fields. You can spot them all over the place in Genesee and Wyoming counties. Ammonia is used in the manufacturing process of meth.
http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/meth/methfaq.php
March 3, 2010 - 11:58am
#3
Doug I was just going to say that. It's a rural problem. Typically meth labs used to be in some cabin out in the boonies because of the strong smell and the high combustibility of the product while producing it.
I have been very surprised lately with the labs being found so close to other houses and some right up the street from the police stations!!
March 3, 2010 - 12:26pm
#4
I phrased the answer the way I did because some people do see any drug problem as something that is urban; it's a certain mindset that some people develop about how rural life is changing.
And that may not be completely without merit in the sense that drugs are drugs; meth just happens to be the drug of choice in rural areas.
That said, I don't think urban issues are creeping, all that much, into this particular rural area. As we discussed the other day, Batavia and Genesee County are pretty safe and there isn't a lot of crime here, comparatively speaking.
March 3, 2010 - 12:30pm
#5
Mary, it just shows the stupidity of some people. Meth is without a doubt the most dangerous drug and the most dangerous to manufacture right now. Meth turns the user into a Zombie, void of being able to feel emotion without the drug. The effects last for years after the user stops taking the drug.
All I can say to law enforcement is "please concentrate on this drug and its manufacture." Forget about pot! The pot smoker just wants to sit on his couch, eat chips and dip and watch old Bonanza reruns. Meth ruins and endangers lives, literally.
March 3, 2010 - 12:38pm
#6
Howard, I grew up in a rural area, Tyre, NY. I used to own a house in the North East section of Rochester, worked in downtown Rochester for years and moved back to rural Genesee county. If people think that drugs are an urban problem more than rural, they're crazy. Drugs are just as easy to find rurally as they are in urban areas. Weed especially is EVERYWHERE. Cocaine (crack) seems to be more of an urban problem than rural, though. Heroin use is quite common rurally.
March 3, 2010 - 12:53pm
#7
I don't know how a police officer could live with him or herself, if they arrested someone for growing a few marijuana plants in their backyard, when there is the manufacture of this toxic garbage going on in the area. BTW, I knew of people who made and used hillbilly heroin all the way back to my days in Oakfield during the seventies. It's not a new thing.
March 3, 2010 - 5:21pm
#8
Hmmm-lately it seems that Genesee County is the mecca for Meth labs.....
March 3, 2010 - 6:45pm
#9
Bob, meth labs have been roaring like a prairie fire from west to east. It's a horrible drug and recovery is seldom a possibility. The dangers posed by meth labs put everyone in a community at risk. It's unlike any other drug known including crack. It literally destroys a person who uses it.
http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/DrugIssue/MethResources/faces/photo_4.html
http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/meth/
Anyone that thinks they even have ANY suspicion of a meth lab location needs to call law enforcement. I'm not one for being nosy but this is beyond ignoring. We can't afford to let any meth lab go unchecked. Everyone needs to be involved looking for this monster of a problem.
March 3, 2010 - 7:11pm
#10
One thing I was talking about with a cop yesterday is the connection between locking your car and the meth/drug issue.
If you make your stuff easy to steal, by not locking your car, you're making it easier for addicts to get money to buy or make drugs (many of these alleged meth labs seem built for self-consumption, not sale).
So lock your cars. Keep your valuables out of the car. This isn't just an issue about your stuff. It's about the whole community.
March 3, 2010 - 7:26pm
#11
These are very excellent points here. I especially like that Howard has pointed out the connection between petty crime and the increase in hard core drugs. Not only should we lock our cars, but we really shouldn't leave anything of value in them at all, so even if someone is desperate enough to break the window they aren't going to get anything. This IS about the whole community.
March 3, 2010 - 7:28pm
#12
I'm in total agreement with both Howard and Doug on this. Don't make it easy for them to steal from you. I'm pretty much of a live and let live guy, I like my privacy and try to respect others, but we need to make an exception for meth labs. If you are suspicious, remember if it looks like a duck and quacks, it's most likely a duck.
March 4, 2010 - 12:21am
#13
Dave, I'm very much a live and let live guy, but yes, meth labs are one thing; and, also, I think drug dealers prey on people (no matter what they're dealing). I've nothing against people making their own choices in life, even if they make destructive choices, but the other crime associated with drug use is a problem.
March 4, 2010 - 2:45pm
#14
Dave Olsen, speaking of ducks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DqSw41jD2Q
March 4, 2010 - 8:01pm
#15
Thanks Doug; if you don't laugh out loud watching that, better check your pulse.
March 5, 2010 - 11:18am
#16
I'm not so surprised that meth labs are being found in our rural area--everything evolves from it's source sooner or later. My concern is the chemicals used in producing this poison and the fact that houses are toxic FOREVER when they are used as labs. Meth labs cause explosions. There are often children living in the midst of these chemicals.
March 5, 2010 - 12:02pm
#17
Rita, that's a big problem for me as well. If something goes wrong and fire fighters show up to fight a fire without knowing what's inside, it could be very dangerous for them. This is when security trumps right to privacy.
