• Methamphetamine,  Mexican Drug Cartels

    Update: Methamphetamine Lab Cleanup is Big Environmental Business

    March 27, 2012 /

    Methamphetamine Lab

    Good for the businesses, but I would really like to put them into another line of work.

    Methamphetamine labs are more than just dangerous and illegal. They leave a mess  an environmental hazard that, according to Indiana law, must be cleaned up.

    And it takes a special process, certification and inspectors who scour the property in full-gear Hazmat suits and respirators to do the dirty work.

    Welcome to the world of meth lab cleanup companies, a growing and profitable business.

    Indiana, which ranks in the top five for meth production, has 22 companies certified by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to decontaminate properties.

    And business is, um, booming.

    “It’s such a growing epidemic,” said Donetta Held, CEO of Crisis Cleaning, a Bloomfield, Ind., company. “It’s everywhere — from a high-dollar house in downtown Indianapolis to these rural counties.”

    Held’s company has already done 25 meth cleanups this year, in less than three months. That’s already half as many as the company completed last year.

    “Some people say there is not as much meth or meth has gone down,” Held said. “Um, no. I don’t see that at all.”

    Neither do police, which have seen a steady growth in meth lab seizures in the past three years. In 2009, law enforcement shut down 1,364 labs. In 2010, 1,395 labs were seized. Last year, that number climbed to 1,437.

    That has meant lots of revenue for meth cleanup companies. Most companies charge about $2 to $3 per square foot to do a cleanup. Depending on the size of the property and how many rooms need to be decontaminated, the cost can range from $5,000 to $10,000.

    And, now, who is saying that the states should not require a prescription for pseudoephedrine?

    Well, it is the drug company that makes allergy and cold pills that contain the meth precursor chemicals. They are afraid of reduced sales.

    Most of these labs would go away with NO precursor chemicals with which to make methamphetamine. So, why the delay?

    A solution is easy – limit the precursor chemicals and secure the Mexican border from the drug cartels.

    Update:

    Here is a post from The Economist about the Global Methamphetamine business.

    STORMING a ranch south of the city of Guadalajara, Mexican soldiers last month made one of the biggest drug busts in history. They found 15 tonnes of the banned stimulant methamphetamine, which in America retails for more than $100 per gram, seven tonnes of chemicals used to make it, and a laboratory. The manufacturers had fled.

    This was the latest sign that meth, once primarily a home-cooked drug, has become a mass-produced one. Unlike cocaine and heroin, imported from the limited regions where coca and poppy are cultivated, meth can be made anywhere. In most countries the ingredients, principally ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, can be bought as medicine for colds. Cooking them is dangerous. But meth is so addictive that the risk of blowing off your hands is little deterrent: in 2010 the authorities discovered 6,768 makeshift labs in America.

    Read it all.

  • Methamphetamine

    Methamphetamine Lab Cleanup is Big Environmental Business

    March 27, 2012 /

    Methamphetamine Lab

    Good for the businesses, but I would really like to put them into another line of work.

    Methamphetamine labs are more than just dangerous and illegal. They leave a mess — an environmental hazard that, according to Indiana law, must be cleaned up.

    And it takes a special process, certification and inspectors who scour the property in full-gear Hazmat suits and respirators to do the dirty work.

    Welcome to the world of meth lab cleanup companies, a growing and profitable business.

    Indiana, which ranks in the top five for meth production, has 22 companies certified by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to decontaminate properties.

    And business is, um, booming.

    “It’s such a growing epidemic,” said Donetta Held, CEO of Crisis Cleaning, a Bloomfield, Ind., company. “It’s everywhere — from a high-dollar house in downtown Indianapolis to these rural counties.”

    Held’s company has already done 25 meth cleanups this year, in less than three months. That’s already half as many as the company completed last year.

    “Some people say there is not as much meth or meth has gone down,” Held said. “Um, no. I don’t see that at all.”

    Neither do police, which have seen a steady growth in meth lab seizures in the past three years. In 2009, law enforcement shut down 1,364 labs. In 2010, 1,395 labs were seized. Last year, that number climbed to 1,437.

    That has meant lots of revenue for meth cleanup companies. Most companies charge about $2 to $3 per square foot to do a cleanup. Depending on the size of the property and how many rooms need to be decontaminated, the cost can range from $5,000 to $10,000.

    And, now, who is saying that the states should not require a prescription for pseudoephedrine?

    Well, it is the drug company that makes allergy and cold pills that contain the meth precursor chemicals. They are afraid of reduced sales.

    Most of these labs would go away with NO precursor chemicals with which to make methamphetamine. So, why the delay?

    A solution is easy – limit the precursor chemicals and secure the Mexican border from the drug cartels.

  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: March 27, 2012

    March 27, 2012 /

    These are my links for March 26th through March 27th:

    • Frustrated Senator Olympia Snowe Gives Obama an ‘F’ – If there were ever a Republican for President Obama to work with, it was Maine Senator Olympia Snowe. She was one of just three Republicans in the entire Congress to vote for his economic stimulus plan in 2009 and even tried to work with him on health care, but in an interview with ABC’s Senior Political Correspondent Jonathan Karl, Snowe makes a remarkable revelation: She hasn’t spoken to President Obama in nearly two years.

      Snowe said that if she had to grade the President on his willingness to work with Republicans, he would “be close to failing on that point.” In fact, Snowe, who was first elected to Congress in 1976, claims that her meetings with President Obama have been less frequent than with any other President.

    • Republicans seeking out Hispanics – Rubio Writing Modified DREAM ACT – Senate Republicans want to alter DREAM Act legislation to steal away Hispanic voters from Democrats.

      Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the only Senate Republican of Hispanic heritage and a possible vice presidential pick, is working on an alternative version of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants who came to the country at a young age and serve in the military or attend college. 

      He declined to provide any details, but confirmed he hopes to have legislation soon.

    • CA-26: Independent Could Make History in California – Parks has been a registered Democrat and Republican and has won three terms for the high-profile but nonpartisan position of county supervisor.

      A new internal poll conducted for the Parks campaign indicates she is favored to advance to the general election along with Republican state Sen. Tony Strickland, with four Democrats as the odd ones out. As the only Republican, Strickland is practically assured of moving beyond June 5.

      “She’s the Democrats’ problem,” Strickland consultant Joe Justin said flatly.

      Indeed, establishment Democrats are beginning to coalesce around state Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, widely seen as the most viable candidate, in an effort to avoid a splintered vote. Brownley, who lives in Santa Monica but represents a small portion of the district, entered the race after Democratic frontrunner Steve Bennett abruptly dropped out at the state party convention in February.

    • Is Google launching a blog commenting system? | The Verge – Is Google launching a blog commenting system?
    • Obama: I’m not ‘hiding the ball’ on defense shield talks with Russia – President Obama denied Tuesday that he is “hiding the ball” when it comes to negotiating with Russia over U.S. plans for a defense shield, saying his positions on the issue are “on record.”

      A day after a live microphone picked up a private conversation where he asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for “space” and “patience” on the missile defense issue until after November’s election, Obama sought to clarify his remarks and make his position known.

      “I think everybody understands — if they don’t, they haven’t been listening to my speeches — that I want to reduce nuclear stockpiles,” Obama said Tuesday, on the final day of a nuclear security summit in South Korea. “And one of the barriers to doing that is building trust and cooperation around missile defense issues. And so this is not a matter of hiding the ball.

    • Tea Party converges on court for main event in healthcare debate – In the three-day legal fight over President Obama’s healthcare law, Tuesday is the main event.

      The Supreme Court will tackle the biggest question at stake in the landmark healthcare case — whether the law’s individual mandate is constitutional. And a massive Tea Party protest could take the public battle outside the courthouse to a new level, as well.

      The justices opened their healthcare arguments Monday with debate over a procedural issue. Tuesday, they’ll move on to the core question of whether Congress has the power to make almost every U.S. citizen buy health insurance or pay a fine.

    • CA-26: Linda Parks Avoids Question Who She Will Support for House Speaker | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-26: Linda Parks Avoids Question Who She Will Support for House Speaker
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-27 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-27
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Daily Extraction Costa Rica Edition: March 19-21, 2012 – The Daily Extraction Costa Rica Edition: March 19-21, 2012
    • Untitled (http://getglue.com/topics/p/los_angeles_dodgers?s=tch&ref=Fullosseousflap) – Just a Spring training game but it is baseball… @GetGlue #LosAngelesDodgers
    • Wisconsin Judges discarded impartiality by signing recall petitions, say journalists who signed recall petitions – A Gannett Media executive was red-faced this weekend after nine of her employees were caught doing exactly what their paper had exposed 29 circuit judges for doing: trying to bring down Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

      The Post-Crescent newspaper in Wisconsin posted a story earlier this month revealing that about 12 percent of Wisconsin’s county-level judiciary had signed a petition to recall the governor. That’s a problem because the trial-level judges are supposed to remain above the political fray.

      Genia Lovett, the president and publisher of The Post-Crescent newspaper, called the story “watchdog journalism” at its finest.

      But just days after the big article, Lovett admitted in an open letter that 25 supposedly unbiased Gannett Wisconsin Media employees, including nine at the Post-Crescent, also had signed recall petitions. Gannett Wisconsin Media owns the Post-Crescent newspaper.

      “It was wrong, and those who signed were in breach of Gannett’s Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms,” Lovett wrote. “The principle at stake is our core belief that journalists must make every effort to avoid behavior that could raise doubts about their journalistic neutrality.”

    • CA-25: Rep Buck McKeon Defends Paying Wife Patricia McKeon for Campaign Work | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-26: Rep Buck McKeon Defends Paying Wife Patricia McKeon for Campaign Work
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: March 26, 2012 – The Morning Drill: March 26, 2012
    • The Morning Flap: March 26, 2012 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: March 26, 2012
    • President 2012: Missile Defense Becomes Campaign Issue As Obama Is Caught on Open Mic | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Missile Defense Becomes Campaign Issue As Obama Is Caught on Open Mic
  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-27

    March 27, 2012 /

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