`KITCHEN LABS' PROLIFERATING; METH USERS INCREASINGLY MAKE DRUG AT HOME.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

After years of seeking out remote areas to conduct their illegal trade, methamphetamine manufacturers are coming into populated areas to produce the drug that is making its mark in the Antelope Valley.

From motel rooms and trailer parks to apartments and neighborhood homes, small-time users are turning into producers and making methamphetamine to feed their own habit - and make a little profit on the side.

``It's supply and demand,'' said Lancaster narcotics Detective Gary Brody, adding that 80 percent of all the drug activity in the Antelope Valley stems from methamphetamine. ``The more people that want it, the more it's being cooked.''

Labs being discovered in residential areas have become known as ``kitchen labs'' or ``Beavis and Butthead'' labs - after the moronic animated characters - because of the danger of working with volatile chemicals close to populated areas.

Known as crystal, speed, crank, or the poor man's cocaine, meth is becoming the drug of choice for many drug users.

``It's cheaper and it's gives a longer high,'' said Brody. ``It's replacing cocaine.''

Officials said the relatively low cost and simple manufacturing process, along with the ready availability of lab equipment and chemicals, will keep the amateur chemists busy brewing their own supplies.

In the past six months, more than 40 labs have been found in the Antelope Valley. Of those, 27 were discovered in populated areas.

Another reason for the popularity of the kitchen labs is that several associates can combine their efforts to produce the final result.

``If they can make it for themselves and their friends; it's cheaper than buying it,'' said Brody. ``They'll all get a portion of the final product.''

Although detailed recipes can be found on the Internet, authorities say most of the labs they find come equipped with hand-written recipes, which are handed from cook to cook.

``Not all the recipes are the same,'' said Brody. ``The chemicals and the process is the same, but the solvents and the length of the cook can be changed.

``The cooks take pride in their cooks,'' Brody added. ``If they have a method that works, they'll use it for life.''

Methamphetamine is produced in several phases and undergoes several chemical changes before the final result is created. It can be made using a variety of household products, including cold medication, iodine, drain unclogger and lighter fluid.

Tougher restrictions

Earlier this year, investigators began targeting people who supply meth cooks with large quantities of over-the-counter medications used in the manufacturing process.

Lawmakers are also working to make it tougher for methamphetamine manufacturers to purchase ingredients.

``Meth is reaching epidemic proportions and we must do everything possible to get this dangerous drug off the street,'' said Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, whose bill, AB 162, was recently passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee.

The bill would make it a misdemeanor for a retail distributor to sell more than three packages of any product containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, which are used in making the illicit drug, in a single transaction.

Highly explosive

Although cooking methamphetamine is described as simple, the method can also be highly explosive. The potential for something going wrong is a deputy's worst nightmare.

``The chances of exploding or catching fire are phenomenal,'' said Brody. ``The danger is greater because they're more people around it.''

Officials said that there have been six explosions at labs this year, including one this month which was described as a flash fire which blew out windows, and a second at a lab which had been blown up once before.

In April, police said, a 26-year-old man was hospitalized with second-degree burns over 45 percent of his body following an explosion at an illicit lab in his home in the 44000 block of 10th Street West - a site close to several schools. The explosion blew out windows in the home and started a fire.

The danger is not only for the producers of meth but also for family members in the home where the drug is being made and the investigators or fire officials who have to deal with its aftermath.

This year alone, a half-dozen deputies have been treated at hospital emergency rooms after being overcome by fumes or having adverse reactions to the chemicals at a site where the drug was being manufactured.

On July 9, firefighters and sheriff's deputies rushed into a home where an explosion had occurred, looking for victims, only to become overcome by the chemicals themselves.

``The scary part is that we don't know what may be in the air,'' said Brody. ``If there's a cook going on there may be poisons in the air. It too late when we find out after we enter.''