Methamphetamine lab seizures in Missouri increased 4 percent last year as the state continues to lead the nation in the number of labs discovered.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported 2,860 meth lab seizures were reported in 2003, up from 2,743 the previous year. While information from other states is still being compiled, Highway Patrol officials predict Missouri will once again have the highest number of lab seizures.

Locally, law enforcement officers and prosecutors said the problems associated with meth rank near the top of the concerns.

Saline County Sheriff Wally George said meth has dramatically increased in popularity over the last decade. Where once crack ruled as the street drug of choice, it has fallen to a distant second with marijuana coming in somewhere after that, George said.

He said the increase in meth use is frightening because of the health risk abandoned labs represent. George said his officers routinely find remnants of meth labs in ditches and fields in the rural parts of the county.

Because the labs are often kept in coolers, the discarded items might pique the curiosity of residents. However, the chemicals they contain are potentially lethal and can severely burn a person's lungs.

"It's trouble for you waiting to happen," he said.

To deal with the hazards associated with the labs, George said he has had three of his deputies trained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to neutralize the chemical components found in them. He said anyone who sees suspicious trash they should stay away from the items and contact his office.

George and Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Don Stouffer said the way meth affects users contributes to the problem. Because the drug disrupts the "pleasure" center in the brain, users can eventually only feel pleasure when they use the drug.

"These folks can be off it for a year, but it's so appealing," George said. "The desire is so strong they go back."

Because the damaging effects of the drug are so long-lasting, Stouffer said, users who do not get help will likely fall into their old habits. The case of Robert Edde exemplifies this, he said.

"Edde is really the classic case," Stouffer said of the Malta Bend man who was sentenced to 20 years in the Department of Corrections earlier this month.

Stouffer's involvement with Edde goes back to 1997. Stouffer, then assistant prosecutor, worked to secure a 10-year sentence for Edde after he pleaded guilty to manufacturing and possession of a controlled substance. Due to overcrowding in the state prison system, Edde was placed in the Offenders Under Treatment program and released in less than a year.

Following his release in May 1998, Edde was arrested on new meth charges the following December. While serving probation for that sentence, Edde was arrested earlier this year and found to be in possession of methamphetamine.

For first-time offenders, Stouffer makes use of the Sanction Treatment Opportunity Progress (STOP) program, which is designed to provide an intensive drug addiction treatment for non-violent drug offenders. Habitual offenders are dealt with in a more stern manner.

"Our goal is to get them in prison for 10 years," Stouffer said.

While few serve the entire 10-year sentence, Stouffer said terms of that length will put a person away for 18 to 30 months.

"That's long enough that they might have a chance (to stay off meth)," he said.

Prosecuting meth cases can be trying, however. Stouffer said when a pool of 60 potential jurors are called in, he asks them how many have been affected by meth. As many as half will raise their hands, he said.

"Some of them are farmers who have had anhydrous stolen, but most of them have had family or close friends affected," Stouffer said.