No More Federal Funds to Clean Up Meth Labs

No More Federal Funds to Clean Up Meth Labs

Local law enforcement has been left picking up the cost of cleaning up busted meth labs now that the federal government has axed all funding for such work.

Due to budget cuts by President Barack Obama, the Drug Enforcement Administration has told counties and states that they’re on their own reclaiming local houses and buildings formerly used by drug merchants manufacturing methamphetamine.

Houses that were used as illegal meth labs often leave behind chemical residues in carpets, drywall, insulation and air ducts that can cause health problems, most notably respiratory ailments and migraines.

The federal government was spending about $10 million a year on meth cleanups. The loss of funding comes at a time when meth production is increasing in many parts of the United States, including North Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri.

http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/No_More_Federal_Funds_to_Clean_Up_Meth_Labs_110501

I didn't know it at the time I was looking at it that it had been a drug house. radiant heat, 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, including mother'sin-law apt w/fireplace, huge master suite, swimming pool and a garage any man would give his right arm to own. All for 65,000. But outside the garage there we five or 6 blue barrels with some sort of chemical in them. I looked at them for a label at the time, but didn't see any markings. On our way out some of the neighbors stopped by and told us about the house.

I still woner to this day, what was in the barrels?

drone strikes on meth labs!

Shit, why not? Most people in rural areas are selling or using meth, even if they aren't cooking it, so if you hit the wrong house, they were probably still enemy combatants in the drug war. Pakistan is our "ally", and we hit them with drones. Why not rural America?

priorities, priorities

These homes are essentially contaminated chemical labs, there's no mitigation that's cheaper and more effective than tearing the place down and starting anew. No person should be living in them.