By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Meth labs emit poisonous chemicals, generate toxic waste that ends up in the environment and – sometimes – explode.

That makes it all the more important for people who see unusual activity to call police, said Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

“That’s the danger: fire. It’s easy to get a fire going, which may result in explosion,” he said. To make meth, a heat source is needed, often kitchen stoves or portable burners.

“The chemicals used are highly flammable,” McKinney said. “And people with meth labs are not careful. This is not a laboratory. These people don’t have chemistry backgrounds. Some of these materials used, like lithium metal, are explosive when it comes into contact with the fire.”

Most people who make methamphetamines also use them, McKinney said. “Their judgment is impaired to begin with.”

Meth stimulates the central nervous system and can cause paranoia, insomnia, confusion and anxiety. It is highly addictive.

Even if there aren’t fires or explosions, meth labs produce toxic chemicals. One byproduct is deadly phosphine gas, McKinney said. “People have been killed cooking it. And they’re taking in the gas in confined spaces.”

Making the drug creates hazardous waste that isn’t treated as such.

“For every 1 pound of methamphetamine, there’s 6 pounds of waste byproducts,” McKinney said. “When you see officers going in wearing protective clothing, a respirator, it’s not so much for fire danger, it’s the chemical hazardous waste. The fumes can get into the lungs.”

People with meth labs often dump the waste down the drain, which ends up in the environment.

So far police have not found a lot of meth labs in Maine. McKinney worries the problem may be percolating.

“In other states, the numbers start small, then explode. It just becomes an epidemic,” he said.