It has caused deaths, property damage, poisonings, and the destruction of families. It seems to be all along the borders of Lawrence County, every day seeming to bring more reports of its abuse in West Virginia, Kentucky and other parts of Ohio.

Methamphetamine is quickly spreading throughout the country, especially in rural areas. Though we haven't seen many reports of the drug in Lawrence County, it may already be right under our noses.

The danger of meth

Though the drug first took off in California (still the largest meth producer) its popularity quickly grew into the Midwest and now across the East Coast.

It seems to have the tightest grip on rural areas where the meth production process is easier to hide and where economic depression makes the cheaply produced drug even more desirable.

Sheriff Kim Wolfe has been battling the drug in West Virginia's Cabell County for half a decade. He's seen several of the dangerous facets of meth, including the damage it can do to addicts when they come down hard after a three-day high.

Wolfe is also greatly concerned about the extremely toxic waste materials left after production.

"One of the biggest problems is that it's about six parts waste to one part product and these waste products are very environmentally hazardous," Wolfe said. "These people doing this are obviously not good citizens, so they'll just throw the waste in creeks or leave them where children could have access to them."

Also, the drug requires extremely volatile conditions to manufacture, which can have explosive results, according to Ironton Chief of Police William Garland.

"They're very dangerous, anything could set one of these off and probably blow the house up as well as several houses around it," Garland said.

A larger target

The meth problem is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with, Garland said. Though he can only recall a couple of meth lab busts within the city limits, that's two too many.

What's more frightening than the handful of meth labs the city has found are the ones that may still be operating somewhere. Garland said it might not be a problem of meth beginning to seep into the county but rather finding where it has already sprung up.

"I don't think it's so much that we're not seeing much of it, frankly, the problem is probably that we haven't got the law enforcement to get out there and find it right now," Garland said.

Lawrence County Sheriff Tim Sexton is more optimistic about the methamphetamine problem. He points to a low number of civilian complaints about meth and few newly incarcerated inmates with meth withdrawal symptoms.

He's not exactly sure why people don't hear as much about meth in Lawrence County, but Sexton says that some of the credit has to be given to law enforcement agencies.

"We, as law enforcement, ask ourselves why we aren't seeing it as much as other areas," Sexton said. "Honestly, I think some of it has to do with the fact that we have an active and aggressive drug task force. That has a little bit to do with it."

Chief Garland said that there's often meth production byproducts and tools like those that Sheriff Wolfe mentioned in area dumps, convincing evidence that the problem may be bigger than we realize.

Garland admits that it's a possibility that crackdowns in West Virginia could make Lawrence County more of a target for meth dealers and chemists.

Besides its proximity to West Virginia, there are features of the region that could make the meth bulls-eye on it even larger.

"One of problems that you have here is that we're kind of a rural county and in the Wayne National Forest areas there's so many places that this stuff could be cooked up and nobody would even be aware of it," Garland said.

Behind the counter

One of the factors that makes meth different is the fact that the ingredients required to make it are all readily available in stores, with no components that must be grown organically, such as in cocaine or marijuana.

The over-the-counter drug that has become most closely connected to meth is Sudafed. One of the chemicals present in it, pseudoephedrine, is a key component in meth creation.

West Virginia has recently enacted a law that Sudafed and similar products must be stored behind the pharmacists counter, hopefully making access to large quantities more difficult for meth chemists. Ohio is currently considering a similar law.

Patty Holley is a manager with Fruth Pharmacy in Proctorville, just a short drive from West Virginia.

She said that they've put more restrictions on Sudafed purchases in an attempt to be good neighbors to those battling meth in the Mountain State and to help limit production here in Lawrence County.

"Ours is behind the counter, too. It's been that way for a while, too," Holley said. "It's a state law in West Virginia, but we followed that too, because we're so close to West Virginia. It's a problem everywhere and we don't want to make it easy on them."

One step ahead

Laura Highfield manages the Ironton Rite-Aid on Park Avenue. Earlier this week, her store alerted the Ironton Police Department that suspicious men were attempting to purchase large quantities of Sudafed. Her company also places the decongestant behind the counter, but she said that other drugs are becoming targets.

"It's a bad problem. It's terrible. All of our Sudafed is behind the counter, but they're finding other things now," Highfield said. "We've been noticing Robitussin and the cough syrup, anything with pseudoephedrine - 30 milligrams of that - any product that has that in it, that's what they're looking for."

Though putting the drugs behind the counter is an important step, criminals evolve just as quickly as they can change policies, Highfield said.

"They know now to go to the pharmacy and ask for it, we had several in the other day, it's like they were coming in threes," Highfield said. "So the pharmacist just wanted the police to be aware of it."

The everyday citizen

With the police manpower taxed to the limit, some of the responsibility in stopping a potential meth boom falls to concerned retailers such as Highfield, and everyday citizens.

Sheriff Wolfe said that West Virginians tipping his office off to possible meth labs has been a big help in his battle.

"We're cutting down a lot on it with the help of the public," Wolfe said. "It puts off a stench and there's certain signs to look for like smelling the cooking process or seeing a lot of vehicle traffic in a rural areas. Those may be an indicator that there could be an operation going on."

In a rural county such as Lawrence, where miles often separate homes, this kind of detection is more difficult, but citizens with their eyes peeled can help provide law enforcement with the clues they need to find meth labs that may be operating in the area.

Though Lawrence County may seem an ideal location for a new meth boom, if citizens and law enforcement work together, all keeping an eye out for the signs of meth, officials believe they may be able to calm the coming meth storm before it truly begins.