Local business owners and operators are banning together to fight a growing threat to the Rowan community.

In late February about 80 local business leaders, educators, child care providers and state and local politicians gathered to support the beginning of what officials hope will become Rowan County’s Meth Watch Program.

Across the country the number of methamphetamine labs is growing and it’s already affecting North Carolina and Rowan County. “We are seeing just the beginning of an epidemic that we must stop,” said Roy Cooper, N. C. Attorney General. In 2003, officials busted 177 methamphetamine labs in North Carolina, according to Van Shaw of the State Bureau of Investigation. This year officials have already seen 37 and anticipate between 300 and 400.

Along with Rowan Business Alliance and local and state law enforcement officials, Cooper and North Carolina U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner recently hosted a seminar on Meth Watch. This program helps educate business owners, real estate agents, employees and ultimately the community on how to help combat the problem of methamphetamines.

In 2003, officials found children in a quarter of the labs they busted, Wagoner said. These children are not only taken from their parents and homes, but left with nothing because their clothes, toys and blankets are contaminated, she explained.

The State Bureau of Investigation’s Van Shaw stated that this drug is becoming more popular because a person can buy crack cocaine for $20 and get a 30-minute high, but purchase methamphetamine for $20 and get a 12-hour high.

The problem, Wagoner noted, is that the ingredients to make methamphetamine can be found in local drug stores, supermarkets and other retail establishments. Some of these products include coffee filters, cold medicine, matchbooks, aluminum foil, paint thinner, and drain cleaner. For $100 of materials, a methamphetamine dealer can make $1,000 in sales. The process of making methamphetamines is dangerous because it produces highly toxic fumes and can cause an explosion. Producing a pound of the drug can leave behind six pounds of toxic waste.

Not only is the process of manufacturing this drug hazardous but other dangers exist as well, Cooper said. People dealing in methamphetamines engage in dangerous behavior and often carry weapons, he added.

Meth labs are also a danger to law enforcement officials. Over the past two years, 27 officers and firefighters were injured, one losing most of his lung capacity in a meth lab fire.

Cooper explained a three-prong approach to combat this epidemic. First, he asked local leaders and citizens to help lobby for legislation to give more severe punishments to methamphetamines dealers.

Right now, an individual caught manufacturing methamphetamines, with no prior record, would likely get probation, according to Rowan County District Attorney Bill Kenerly.

The second approach, Cooper said, is awareness. Local business owners and organizational leaders need to help educate employees and the community to cooperate by allowing signage in their establishments.

And finally, citizens and employees must learn to be aware. “We have to realize that when a person goes into a store and buys 10 packs of Sudafed, is probably not shopping for a big family with a cold,” Cooper said. “Business owners and retailers need to know what to look for.”

Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm noted that another problem is that officials are finding meth labs in hotel rooms, cars, apartments and even middle class neighborhoods. “It could be your neighbor,” he said.

Wagoner said the community will play a vital role in cracking down on this problem. “You retailers truly hold the key to the kingdom of solving this problem,” she said. “I would like Rowan County to rise up to the challenge and be the first county in the state to have this program.”