Congress seeks scrubbing for meth-soaked homes
On a voice vote, lawmakers agreed to initiate a federal research program to identify the health dangers posed by makeshift meth labs in homes or apartments and issue guidelines to states for the proper disposal and cleanup of such sites.
“Right now there are thousands of unsuspecting families that are living in homes that were once meth labs,” said Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.
The process of cooking chemicals to create meth ? also known as crystal, crank or ice ? leaves a toxic residue inside buildings. Officials are increasingly worried that families who unknowingly move into busted meth labs are exposed to serious health risks.
“Running a vacuum cleaner over the carpet and slapping a coat of paint on the walls, that’s not enough,” said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y. “The next resident unwittingly is exposed to some very toxic chemicals and more often than not it involves children.”
The bill was sponsored by Boehlert and Gordon, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Science Committee, while Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., is pushing the Senate version.
Meth is a powerful stimulant that can be smoked, snorted, swallowed or injected. It contains pseudoephedrine, which is found in many over-the-counter cold medications.
The cooking process often leaves a coating on walls, floors and ventilation systems. Experts say in some instances, a child can receive a prescription-level dose of the drug just by rubbing his hands on a wall coated with the drug residue.
But the health dangers are not limited to just the drug component, as the other chemicals necessary to cook meth can come from rock salt, battery acid, red phosphorous road flares, pool acid and iodine crystals.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, more than 17,000 seizures of meth labs, dump sites and cooking equipment were reported in 2004.
The House bill provides $9 million to the Environmental Protection Agency to create guidelines for local officials to clean up meth lab contamination and $4.5 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop technology to better detect meth labs.
Congress also is scheduled to consider a more sweeping anti-meth bill later this week. The measure, included in the proposed reauthorization of the Patriot Act, would make it harder for drug dealers to get the key meth ingredient by putting the necessary cold pills behind store counters.
That bill, sponsored by Sens. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would require stores to keep medicines like Sudafed and NyQuil behind the counter, and limit consumers to 3.6 grams (about 120 pills) per day and 9 grams (about 300 pills) a month.
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The bill is H.R. 798.
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On the Net:
Drug Enforcement Administration: http://www.dea.gov