Check it Out: • 1 LB of METH = 5 LBS of   TOXIC WASTE • In 2004 alone, there were more   than 10,000 meth lab cleanups   at a cost of $18.6 million (Source: DEA, NIDA, NIH, USDHHS)

Other Drug Information: Alcohol Cocaine Ecstasy Fentanyl Hallucinogens Heroin Inhalants LSD Marijuana Prescription Drugs Steroids

The Many Faces of Meth: Before After

(Source: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office - Faces of Meth™)

Testing Homes for Past Meth Use

Homeowners using do-it-yourself kits can now test their new homes to see if the previous owners ever made or smoked methamphetamine there, the Salt Lake City Weekly reported Jan. 4.

Results from the $45 test sometimes prompt residents to abandon their homes or apartments, fearing the lingering health effects of the drug. Test results also have prompted local health officials to shutter homes until a cleanup is performed.

In Utah, a recently enacted law requires the health department to be notified if residences are chemically contaminated. The law was implemented to fight homegrown meth labs, with reports expected from police, but now nearly all calls are prompted by use of the home testing kits. In most cases, the homes were never used as meth labs; instead, the kits pick up traces of past meth smoking by individual users.

There is no consensus about what constitutes a safe level of exposure to meth residue. "We don't have a lot of the science, but what can we do?" said Diane Keay of the Salt Lake Valley Health Department. "This is not something natural in the environment. It's a medication, an addictive drug. Why should anybody have to put up with any of it?"

But some landlords are balking at the thousands of dollars in cleanup costs when there's no clear evidence of danger in trace amounts of the drug. What state standards exist vary broadly: Minnesota, for instance, allows twice the amount of meth residue as Utah, and other states allow 50 times as much. State legislators will meet later this year to discuss possible changes to the Utah meth-reporting law.