Group Plans Forum on Spotting Meth Labs

The illegal production of methamphetamine has long had a group of victims rarely mentioned: the children whose parents are making the meth.

Increasingly, authorities are finding children under the age of 13 living in homes that double as meth labs. In the past 23 months, more than two-thirds of the 102 children found during raids on meth labs have toxic chemicals in their bodies, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Today, a new task force of state and county agencies will hold its first public forum to educate residents and help them spot the telltale signs of meth labs in their neighborhoods. The forum begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Southwest Senior Center, 2201 W. McFadden Ave.

“The costs of dealing with methamphetamine use and manufacturing, both in financial and human figures, have reached epidemic proportions,” said Tanya Martino, special agent with the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. “This epidemic has hit Orange County particularly hard.”

California produces 54% of the nation’s illegal supply of methamphetamine, also known as speed, crystal and crank. The state spent $4 million last year, including $500,000 in Orange County, to shut labs.

Noticing the increasing numbers of children found at meth labs, local prosecutors formed the Drug Endangered Children’s program two years ago. In 47 raids on meth labs since then, police found 102 children and, in testing, found that 71 had been exposed to the toxic chemicals used to make meth. As a result, prosecutors charged 78 parents with felony child endangerment, charges that weren’t systematically filed before.

Previously, children found at lab raids were released to relatives without evaluation or assessment.

“The children are innocent victims of parents who manufacture the drug,” Martino said. “And the situation is not getting any better; meth is the drug for the ‘90s.”

The drug is cheap, easy to make and produces a high that lasts for 2 to 12 hours, she said. But it also is highly addictive, dangerous to manufacture and liable to lead to paranoia and violent behavior with prolonged use, she said.

Police, prosecutors, health, social service and community leaders formed the Orange County Methamphetamine Task Force about six months ago to educate the public and work on preventive measures.

“This has become a life-threatening problem in Orange County,” said Lourdes Gutierrez, a task force member who is helping to organize today’s forum.

The forum will feature a mock meth lab and speakers from law enforcement, health and social services agencies. Also speaking will be Maurice Link, a counselor at Phoenix House, a residential drug and alcohol treatment facility in Santa Ana, and Irene Ortega of Hearts United Grandparents, a support group for those raising their grandchildren.

They will share personal experiences of how meth has affected their lives. Ortega, for instance, struggled to raise a stepdaughter addicted at 12 and a son addicted at 9.

“We are beginning to realize that this is the only real solution: to educate the public and youth about the dangers of the drug and to teach them how to identify meth labs in their neighborhood,” Gutierrez said.

Martino pointed out that the public has to be part of the solution. “We can’t do it alone,” she said.

Information: (714) 895-9088.