General head-up/warning!

[The Flying Dutchman]

If you are out in the woods, and suddenly smell starting ether or ammonia, get out of there as quietly and quickly as possible. Someone nearby is doing a methamphetamine 'cook'. Very common in areas where anhydrous ammonia can be gotten relatively easy. This happened to me today, in Eastern TX, I won't pinpoint it any closer, but the county sheriff was notified.

[+mrcpu]

I was visiting a cache today and there were two cars full of teenagers and one person in one car shouted out to the other car "How can you smoke pot if you don't know how to roll a joint" at which point I notice them rolling something green from a plastic bag. I doubt it was tobacco!

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

[GeoStars]

We have a LOT of meth labs around here but most are in houses or trailers out in the country. I had heard somewhere that they were finding them on public land (i.e. state forests and such) but have never heard or read that *officially*. Is this a growing problem?

 

GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

[The Flying Dutchman]

I beleive the problem would be called epidemic. Meth is Sooooo easy to make, it's become the speed drug of choice. Recipes are all over the internet. I wouldn't want to walk up on people 'cooking'. They're likely to be armed and in no mood for discovery.

[+Bluespreacher]

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Flying Dutchman:

If you are out in the woods, and suddenly smell starting ether or ammonia, get out of there as quietly and quickly as possible. Someone nearby is doing a methamphetamine 'cook'. Very common in areas where anhydrous ammonia can be gotten relatively easy. This happened to me today, in Eastern TX, I won't pinpoint it any closer, but the county sheriff was notified.

---

 

This is serious stuff. Remember the slogan "Speed Kills"? It's not just about the users.

 

National forests and wilderness areas are favorite places. Remote, no law enforcment, no rental receipt back to your name. What more could you want?

 

Speed is a big deal around here. Many other places pot is king. You don't want to walk up on these people. They are unstable by definition and usually armed.

 

Don't be paranoid, though. That's their job. Keep you eyes and nose open to what goes on. Talk to locals and law enforcement.

 

Keep on Caching,

 

Bluespreacher

[+Bluespreacher]

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Flying Dutchman:

If you are out in the woods, and suddenly smell starting ether or ammonia, get out of there as quietly and quickly as possible. Someone nearby is doing a methamphetamine 'cook'. Very common in areas where anhydrous ammonia can be gotten relatively easy. This happened to me today, in Eastern TX, I won't pinpoint it any closer, but the county sheriff was notified.

---

 

This is serious stuff. Remember the slogan "Speed Kills"? It's not just about the users.

 

National forests and wilderness areas are favorite places. Remote, no law enforcment, no rental receipt back to your name. What more could you want?

 

Speed is a big deal around here. Many other places pot is king. You don't want to walk up on these people. They are unstable by definition and usually armed.

 

Don't be paranoid, though. That's their job. Keep you eyes and nose open to what goes on. Talk to locals and law enforcement.

 

Keep on Caching,

 

Bluespreacher

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

A few years back while cutting cross country (no trails) I came across a little pot farm. It was surrounded by hundreds of fish hooks hanging about 5 feet off the ground. I don't think that's the problem it once was, but still best to be safe in "urban" rural areas. Stay by the trails.

 

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

[+Firefishe]

When traipsing through the woods, I always carry my .38 revolver, In Plain View, and usually with a small game hunting license.

 

As long as this type of thing is legal in your area, I'd suggest poppin' a small shootin' iron in the backpack.

 

This may or may not work for everybody, but I am usually out in the wilderness alone. Alone. I.E., without anyone around me within miles.

 

I appreciate the value of this thread and the practical nature provided of "using one's nostrils." However, you may also want to realize that starting ether may also be used by motorcyclists and other riders of off-road vehicles, such a three- and four-wheelers, etc.

 

Just be careful. But if you're down and out, and happen to stumble upon some "nasties at play/work," it'd be better to have "something handy"...this only in case the nasties don't want you to "continue on your way, peaceably."

 

My .02

 

P.S. ...And remember...whatever you think, in the U.S.A. it *is* still a RIGHT! Period!

[+rdw]

Coles County Illinois, where I live, is the meth lab capital of the state. I saw a listing somewhere of number of meth lab busts by county, and Coles had about twice as many as any other county in Illinois including the Chicago area.

 

rdw

[+VentureForth]

After the thread regarding an NPS Morning Briefs article against geocaching, I read the Morning Briefs for a while just 'cause they were fun. Not too many days later, there was a report about a forest fire which was caused by a meth lab.

 

Sad.

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[+Macro]

Not that long ago I had been out in the woods near a local lake doing some bass fishing. The local conservation officer stopped by to do a routine license check...of course my license was up to date so there wasnt much to the check, but then my curiousity got the better of me...I noticed that he was carrying a Glock 9mm, with 3 magazines on his belt. Now that is a lot of firepower for someone who is checking fishing licenses...so I asked him what he needed so much ammo for. He told me that more and more they come across dealer making large sales out in the woods. They think its safer than doing business in the urban areas where police patrol the streets. Out in the woods, a guy carry walk a mile out into the woods with a briefcase full of money and walk out with a briefcase full of drugs, and probably make the whole transaction without seeing another person. (except the dealer). The ranger told me that since they started seeing more drug activity out in the woods, they were arming up for it, as many dealers had sub-machine gun type weapons, or at minimum, serious firepower. I would not be surprised to hear that drug producers have taken to the woods to manufacture their product.

 

Everyone be safe out there, I dont know what this world is coming to anymore.

[+mrcpu]

When I exercise my Right To Bare Arms, all I get is a sunburn!!

 

Seriously, If I ran into anyone "cooking" I'd mark a waypoint and take a bearing then head back to the car where I'd call the cops from my cellphone.

 

(I wouldn't call from the woods, even with signal because you don't necessarily want to be standing in the woods going "HELLO?!? HELLO?!?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?! IS THE THE POLICE?!?!")

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

[+mornin'glory]

quote:

---

Originally posted by GeoStars:

We have a LOT of meth labs around here but most are in houses or trailers out in the country. I had heard somewhere that they were finding them on public land (i.e. state forests and such) but have never heard or read that *officially*. Is this a growing problem?

 

GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

---

 

the mark twain forest in MO is getting infested with meth labs

[+GatoRx]

In my Medicinal Chemistry class, part of a lecture was devoted to some people in California who actually helped drug research with their meth lab. When the drug is being synthesized, different parts of the process need to be kept within a very narrow temperature range, and at that temperature range for a very specific amount of time. These people didn't follow their "recipe" exactly, and got another chemical mixed in with their product, although they didn't know it; the drug was soon ready for sale on the streets.

After a while, meth users began showing up in emergency rooms with symptoms very similar to Parkinson's Disease. After a lot of research and tracking, it was determined that all of these people had gotten meth from the same batch. It turns out that the impurity, abbreviated MPTP (don't remember what it stands for) enters the brain, is metabolized to an ionized form (it gets a positive charge), and then can't exit the brain because of its charge. Since there's nowhere for it to go, it ends up destroying neurotransmitter-producing cells in a part of the brain, which then leads to Parkinson's Disease.

How did this help drug research you ask? Until this point, researchers didn't have a good way to produce Parkinson's in lab animals so they could test anti-Parkinson's drugs. Now they can mess up a meth recipe, and wind up with a good tool for research into a devastating disease. And that's your pharmaceutical lesson for the day.

[+GatoRx]

In my Medicinal Chemistry class, part of a lecture was devoted to some people in California who actually helped drug research with their meth lab. When the drug is being synthesized, different parts of the process need to be kept within a very narrow temperature range, and at that temperature range for a very specific amount of time. These people didn't follow their "recipe" exactly, and got another chemical mixed in with their product, although they didn't know it; the drug was soon ready for sale on the streets.

After a while, meth users began showing up in emergency rooms with symptoms very similar to Parkinson's Disease. After a lot of research and tracking, it was determined that all of these people had gotten meth from the same batch. It turns out that the impurity, abbreviated MPTP (don't remember what it stands for) enters the brain, is metabolized to an ionized form (it gets a positive charge), and then can't exit the brain because of its charge. Since there's nowhere for it to go, it ends up destroying neurotransmitter-producing cells in a part of the brain, which then leads to Parkinson's Disease.

How did this help drug research you ask? Until this point, researchers didn't have a good way to produce Parkinson's in lab animals so they could test anti-Parkinson's drugs. Now they can mess up a meth recipe, and wind up with a good tool for research into a devastating disease. And that's your pharmaceutical lesson for the day.

[Sliver & Lucy]

I don't know of to many meth labs in my area, although I am sure they are out there ... I will be sure to keep a keen nose to the air when I am out and about in the bush... Can't carry a side arm in my neck of the woods there Firefishe If I could,, I would!

 

And thanks for the pharmaceutical lesson GatoRx

 

[Sliver & Lucy]

I don't know of to many meth labs in my area, although I am sure they are out there ... I will be sure to keep a keen nose to the air when I am out and about in the bush... Can't carry a side arm in my neck of the woods there Firefishe If I could,, I would!

 

And thanks for the pharmaceutical lesson GatoRx

 

[+VentureForth]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mrcpu:

If I ran into anyone "cooking" I'd mark a waypoint and take a bearing then head back to the car where I'd call the cops from my cellphone.

---

 

Hmmm... That's an interesting idea. Kinda like laser marking a target. Get the coordinates, git outta there, and let the USAF smartbomb their acks!

 

NPS Policy on the 2nd Amendment: "We support the right to carry and arm bears".

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[+mrcpu]

quote:

---

Originally posted by VentureForth:

Hmmm... That's an interesting idea. Kinda like laser marking a target. Get the coordinates, git outta there, and let the USAF smartbomb their acks!

---

 

I think you guy's have dropped enough bombs! But that's another thread

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

[+mrcpu]

quote:

---

Originally posted by VentureForth:

Hmmm... That's an interesting idea. Kinda like laser marking a target. Get the coordinates, git outta there, and let the USAF smartbomb their acks!

---

 

I think you guy's have dropped enough bombs! But that's another thread

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

[+RAD Dad]

I don't know if it is still a problem, but in Southern Oregon it wasn't meth labs you had to worry about, it was pot farms in the middle of the woods, protected by booby traps.

 

ummmm....not sure what to say here....so ummm, well errrr, uhhhh, well I guess that's it.

[+The Cheeseheads]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mrcpu:

Seriously, If I ran into anyone "cooking" I'd mark a waypoint and take a bearing then head back to the car where I'd call the cops from my cellphone.

---

 

Hmm. I'll have to doublecheck, but I don't think my eTrex has a waypoint icon for "Meth Lab".

 

Maybe in the next update...

 

[markusby]

quote:

---

(I wouldn't call from the woods, even with signal because you don't necessarily want to be standing in the woods going "HELLO?!? HELLO?!?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?! IS THE THE POLICE?!?!")

---

 

MRCPU, That's probably the funniest damned thing I've ever heard in my life! What makes it so funny it that I can imagine someone actually DOING it.

 

About the firearms thing, I agree. I usually take my Walther P99 .40 or my Glock 19. Depends on the mood... the black of the Glock adds that mysterious look but the green on the Walther's frame compliments my eyes.

[markusby]

quote:

---

(I wouldn't call from the woods, even with signal because you don't necessarily want to be standing in the woods going "HELLO?!? HELLO?!?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?! IS THE THE POLICE?!?!")

---

 

MRCPU, That's probably the funniest damned thing I've ever heard in my life! What makes it so funny it that I can imagine someone actually DOING it.

 

About the firearms thing, I agree. I usually take my Walther P99 .40 or my Glock 19. Depends on the mood... the black of the Glock adds that mysterious look but the green on the Walther's frame compliments my eyes.

[GeoStars]

Tuesday night we had a meth lab a couple miles down the road go up in flames. I wasn't working that night but we were following the radio traffic. We were pretty sure it was a meth lab based on the suspicous nature of the fire and the resulting injuries. The next morning, the newspaper confirmed it. Well, confirmed it as in *alleged* meth lab... Gotta keep up the CYA stuff.

 

So much for moving out to the country to give the kids a safe, peaceful place to grow up.

 

GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

[GeoStars]

Tuesday night we had a meth lab a couple miles down the road go up in flames. I wasn't working that night but we were following the radio traffic. We were pretty sure it was a meth lab based on the suspicous nature of the fire and the resulting injuries. The next morning, the newspaper confirmed it. Well, confirmed it as in *alleged* meth lab... Gotta keep up the CYA stuff.

 

So much for moving out to the country to give the kids a safe, peaceful place to grow up.

 

GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

[+T-storm]

Last year shortly before Thanksgiving there were some mutilated murder victims found in one of the National Forests along the TX/LA border or thereabouts. My extended family lives in the counties containing and adjacent to these forests. The murders were unsolved at that time but were reported as most likely drug-related. A good idea to be aware of our surroundings anywhere at anytime. Much more convenient to avoid bad stuff than work through it... you know, fireant mounds, the root in the trail that trips you, loser dopers who'd rather kill you and mess up others' lives than accept an honest wage for honest work... Geez.

 

T-storm

 

http://www.cordianet.com/geocaching

[+PewterZ]

Gosh these drug dealers really make me mad! My EX-girlfriend got messed up on meth and it ruined my life for time and I didn't even touch the stuff.

Now these Jerks ( I really want to use much stronger language but I am refraining) are encroaching on the forest's which are my only sanctuary from the insanity of this modern day world. Man this really erks me!

[+Firefishe]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sliver & Lucy:

I don't know of to many meth labs in my area, although I am sure they are out there ... I will be sure to keep a keen nose to the air when I am out and about in the bush... Can't carry a side arm in my neck of the woods there Firefishe If I could,, I would!

 

<*[[[>< respondethe: Get yer Canadian Firearm License...costs a bit, but it *is* there.

 

Warm regards,

Fishe

 

P.S. Guess a shotgun'll do just as well

 

And thanks for the pharmaceutical lesson GatoRx

 

http://members.rogers.com/geocachingontario/Sliver&Lucy-Logo-a1b.JPG

---

 

[+Firefishe]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sliver & Lucy:

I don't know of to many meth labs in my area, although I am sure they are out there ... I will be sure to keep a keen nose to the air when I am out and about in the bush... Can't carry a side arm in my neck of the woods there Firefishe If I could,, I would!

 

<*[[[>< respondethe: Get yer Canadian Firearm License...costs a bit, but it *is* there.

 

Warm regards,

Fishe

 

P.S. Guess a shotgun'll do just as well

 

And thanks for the pharmaceutical lesson GatoRx

 

http://members.rogers.com/geocachingontario/Sliver&Lucy-Logo-a1b.JPG

---

 

[+The GeoGadgets Team]

quote:

---

Originally posted by GatoRx:

How did this help drug research you ask?

---

I don't know about drug researchers, but they did the rest of the world a favor... except now those non-Parkinson meth-maggots are going to get stupid checks from Social Security...

 

quote:

---

Until this point, researchers didn't have a good way to produce Parkinson's in lab animals so they could test anti-Parkinson's drugs.

---

Now, instead of lab rats they have meth-maggots and crank-weasels! Cool, they eat less than the rats.

 

Can you tell I'm anti-drug? One "person" a few doors down from me, who I wouldn't know at all if she didn't have a son the same approx. age as mine, is obviously a methamphetamine user. The son would come over to play, and all of a sudden three or four cars would show up in her driveway. Then our phone would ring... "Can you make sure (son's name) doesn't come home before he calls here first?" Now, why can't the kid come home whenever he wants? What is she worried he'll catch her doing? When (son's name) wanted to go home, I'd have him call and sure enough, all of the cars would leave!

They were just evicted, though I don't know what for. The kid came over to play "for the last time". She had the nerve to say, "Can I drop (son's name) off here next time I'm in town?" Uh, yeah sure... just as long as you don't mind my calling CPS! Maggot... I feel sorry for the poor kid.

----------

Lori aka: RedwoodRed

KF6VFI

"I don't get lost, I investigate alternative destinations."

GeoGadgets Team Website

Comics, Video Games and Movie Fansite

[+Wesbo]

I don't care for woods-grown meth. Too 'Gamey' for me...