Imboden Live attended a class instructed by Jody Dotson of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department at the Walnut Ridge Fire Department Tuesday Feb.23rd.
The theme of the class was to instruct the firemen to be “Meth Aware”. Mr. Dotson brought components of labs as well as raw materials to show the firemen what to look for while in a structure. Mr. Dotson also instructed the class on just how volatile and dangerous these components can be.
Chief Alan Haskins of the WRFD also stated that several of the latest fires in the Walnut Ridge Fire District have be related to labs.
One thing that we found very interesting that Mr. Dotson pointed out was the clean up cost of a lab. Each pound of methamphetamine produced leaves FIVE to SIX pounds of TOXIC waste behind. Clean up and disposal must be done by trained personnel. The average clean up cost of a lab is between $3500 to $5000 per lab, some go as high as $150,000. This is paid by YOU the taxpayer.
Mr. Dotson’s class covered everything from “How Meth Effects The Enviroment” to “What you should look for”, It was most informative.
Some of the signs to recognize a methamphetamine user are..
*Dilated Pupils *Rapid Eye Movement * Profuse Sweating *Open sores on skin * Body Odor * Extremely Talkative *Jerking or twitching motions *Pale Skin.
Drug use not only effects the person who is using but the entire community. Some points on how a single Meth Lab can effect you and your neighbors are…
*Bring criminals and violence into your neighborhood.
*Compromise the safety of everyone around.
*Subject surrounding homes to an extreme fire hazard.
*Greatly lower property values.
*Present a bad environment for raising children.
*Increase late night activity and noise on your street.
In order to protect ourselves and our neighborhoods it’s important that if we see signs of suspicious behavior to contact the sherriff’s department immediately.
You can contact the Lawrence County Sherrif’s Department at 870-886-2525.
We would like to Thank Chief Haskins of the WRFD and Jody Dotson of the LCSD for allowing us to attend this great class.
