Methamphetamine Making Comeback in the Chattanooga Area

Meth makes a comeback in the Tennessee Valley.

So far this year law enforement busted twice the labs.

State and federal laws restrict and track the sales of one of the main ingredients, but cookers find ways to get around them.

It wasn't long ago that local law enforcement celebrated a 60 percent drop in meth lab busts...thanks to laws that mandated putting medicines with pseudoephedrine behind the counter.

It's one of the main ingredients in meth.

Jim Brexler, Erlanger, "That's a good thing."

In fact Erlanger CEO Jim Brexler credited the drop in meth labs for reducing the number of burn patients.

Brexler, "One of the things you don't think about is that people blow themselves up in those and then they end up burned and our burn unit was one of the places the patients came."

But that could soon change if the current upward trend continues.

Mike Hall, "In the last year I'd say we're up 70 percent."

The Director of the Tenth Judicial Drug Taskforce Mike Hall finds meth makers are getting around the laws with a practice called smurfing.

Hall, "Groups of people will form a conspiracy and they'll go and buy pseudoephedrine tablets cold medicine from all pharmacies throughout the state of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky in our area and then they'll meet at a common place a cook spot."

Another trend, mobile meth labs, made even more popular by a new method of cooking meth...the shake and bake.

Hall, "The old method it took several different parts this new method they can put almost everything in one little container and they shake it and they gas it off and they do that while they're driving."

Hall, "The downside to that, it's dangerous to the community. It's basically a bomb ready to go off."

And another danger, seen recently in Alabama.

Hall, "A young girl found one of those shake and bake bottles drank it, it was in a sprite bottle, and it burned her esophagus. They have no regard for anybody else except for themselves"

Tennessee law enforcement have a weapon in the meth battle.

A computer program helps them keep track of pseudoephedrine sales.

It alerts them when someone buys more than the limit.