Meth’s infection

Second of two parts

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Ashley was 10 when she tested positive for traces of methamphetamine, leading the state to take custody of her and younger sister Amber.

The girls’ father “cooked” the addictive drug in the family’s kitchen, and authorities concluded that Ashley ingested it when eating from a bowl contaminated with chemicals that spewed during his illicit activity.

“It’s child abuse,” said Betsy Dunn, a caseworker with Tennessee Child Protective Services. “It’s the worst form of child endangerment I’ve seen.”

The meth epidemic’s spread across the country from west to east is ripping apart families as drug-addled parents are jailed or die, leaving the state with the burgeoning cost of child care.

The problem has grown most rapidly in the Southeast, where “mom-and-pop” meth labs proliferated tenfold in recent years.

The Tennessee Department of Child Services investigated meth-related cases involving more than 750 children from last October to February alone, Mrs. Dunn said.

Children are present at more than 20 percent of discovered meth labs, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported. In a five-year period, the number of children found at Kentucky meth labs increased from three to 84.

Meth also costs taxpayer money for rehabilitation, emergency-room care and environmental damage from the lye, ether, camping fuel and other chemicals used in the cooking process.

Federal officials have not pinpointed the cost of meth’s effect on the broader medical and law-enforcement communities. But anecdotal evidence from jurisdictions in the Midwest and Southeast shows that the problem pits budget-wary state lawmakers against local law enforcement.

Costly addiction

Indiana reported more than 1,000 raids last year on “mom-and-pop” meth labs. Sheriff Jon Marvel of Vigo County, Ind., said the annual cost of running his jail jumped from $800,000 seven years ago to $3.5 million last year.

Although part of the cost involved construction of a larger jail, Sheriff Marvel said, the county has to pay the medical bills of meth-addicted inmates, who often suffer from rotting teeth and central organs.

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