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Missouri County Posts Meth Lab Locations Online: Good Idea?

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 2:45pm by CitizenSugar
321 Views - 34 comments

If you're looking to move, chances are you suss out a neighborhood first: schools, crime rates, sex offenders nearby, and the like. If you live in Jefferson County, MO, you can add another criteria to your info gathering: whether a meth lab is located nearby.

Not limited to hardcore crack houses, the sheriff's department is listing places where it's seized any materials tied to meth production that indicate a past presence of a secret drug lab in the past two years. Real estate agents are thrilled by the new development though schools and house size still top the list of important area details. With the release of the info however, nearby homeowners might worry that the released info could wreak havoc on their own home's value.

The sheriff says, "We keep raising the bar on awareness. You either do something about it, or you stick your head in the sand." Jefferson County has one of the worst meth problems in the United States. The state of Missouri recorded 770 meth-lab incidents in the first six months of this year.

Is their criteria too broad? Should a house be listed as a meth lab just for having evidence gathered? Is privacy at stake or is this progressive crime fighting?

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34 Comments Add a Comment

  • hartsfull's picture
    hartsfull
    1

    Well there's more than one danger to having a meth lab close by your house. Even if it's a previous meth lab. I think it's a good idea.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • yesteryear's picture
    yesteryear
    2

    yes excellent idea. will also save the meth "scientists" a lot of money on yellow pages ads! now we can just ask the state to find our drugs for us! what's next for the nanny state of missouri?

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • hartsfull's picture
    hartsfull
    3

    yes! absolutely because people buying drugs want to go exactly where cops tell them to go.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • bluesarahlou's picture
    bluesarahlou
    4

    I can see why people would be concerned about their home values though. Would you really want to buy a house near a known meth lab?

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Great Sommelier's picture
    Great Sommelier
    5

    I'm with Harts and Blue.

    Sorry I've been MIA. My husband took me to, get ready to get jealous, rockin' out with Tom Petty and Steve Winwood! lol, eat your hearts out!!

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • hartsfull's picture
    hartsfull
    6

    I agree. That's too bad for them too. But, I'd rather know if my kids were going to be riding their bikes by a meth lab. Or, if there was going to be a possible explosion. That kind of thing.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • hartsfull's picture
    hartsfull
    7

    OH! GS! You brat! oh, but I'm really happy for you too. Darn you though. but

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Great Sommelier's picture
    Great Sommelier
    9

    It was abso-freakin'-lutely amazing! The heartbreaker's are a fabulous band. And when Winwood came out and did some Blind Faith stuff with petty I was jumping in my seat like a mad woman. And Petty did some traveling Wilbury's stuff too. It appeared to me he was visibly saddened doing them though. And no one can fill in for Roy Orbison or George Harrison, I don't care who they are. They were one of a kind. So, this baby has rocked out to some heavy hitters. I went to Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson while pregnant with Jude, so my kids get musical taste in utero!

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • stephley's picture
    stephley
    10

    No mention of charges, trials - just listing the properties where materials are seized, with no evaluation of the quality of the materials as valid evidence?
    Since aluminum foil, measuring cups, antifreeze containers, papers, notes, duct tape and rubber gloves can all be taken as indicators of a meth lab, this idea seems to have serious potential for abuse.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • foxie's picture
    foxie
    12

    I fail to see how this isn't a great idea. Meth labs explode and are directly dangerous to all houses around them.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • MartiniLush's picture
    MartiniLush
    13

    I like this idea. Steph, I read the linked article and it says that "The postings list addresses where the department has seized a meth lab or found discarded materials that indicate the past presence of a clandestine drug lab in 2007 or 2008."

    I would assume that they would need more than just a few items that could possibly be used in the production of meth, that these were places where there were either active investigations or evidence to point to them being used for meth lab sites.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • milosmommy's picture
    milosmommy
    15

    I'm all in favor of it. They are super dangerous and who needs one more thing to worry about. Oh and GS I'm hecka jealous.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Great Sommelier's picture
    Great Sommelier
    16

    Steph, so you would just rather be in the dark, because something may potentially happen? That is a very different than your view on other subjects.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • MartiniLush's picture
    MartiniLush
    18

    The potential for abuse is great for many things. I think that, in this instance, the pros outweigh the cons.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Vespa's picture
    Vespa
    19

    Tom Petty is so goodin concert. I saw him last summer with Steve Knicks!

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • kastarte2's picture
    kastarte2
    21

    Finally I can get directions on where to buy some meth! Imposible to locate in the yellow pages.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • MLLS's picture
    MLLS
    22

    kastarte

    It doesn't mean CURRENT meth labs, it means PRIOR meth activity.

    It's usually homes that the occupants have already been arrested or moved out and it is up for sale or rent. It's a tool so you know if you're getting a house that has the contaminants still present in the walls etc.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • stephley's picture
    stephley
    24

    "The Web site doesn't provide details about what occurred at each address. Brown said the department would try to provide additional information to members of the public with questions if it can by law."

    The information doesn't tell you if there was a meth lab, or if the house is going to blow up or when the house is going to blow up - so what exactly is the purpose of this information besides saying something bad may have happened in this neighborhood?

    Doesn't it implicate anyone who lived in the house in meth production - even though they may not have ever been arrested or charged? Or had anything to do with a meth lab?

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • organicsugr's picture
    organicsugr
    25

    Stephley is right. It's important that the seizure of illegal contraband by police is not something that is public record.

    The police must operate in secret.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Mintie's picture
    Mintie
    26

    This is going to take all the guesswork out of drug dealing...

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • bellaressa's picture
    bellaressa
    27

    Seeing as Meth labs, can do damage to people living next door to them, behind, or in front of them or even a block away. I feel that people have the right to know. Those chemicals and fumes can not only hurt adults and children. They are deadly and can give contact highs if they are over exposed. People not knowing that a Meth lab is near there house can be deadly, when the illness start no one knows what it is and then its pinpointed. I would rather know than not to know.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • tina_marie's picture
    tina_marie
    28

    To me, this is not different than posting where sex offenders live. Meth is an evil evil drug and anything that can be done to help in the battle is good IMO. And you are so right bellaressa, in that the effects of a meth lab can be huge on a neighborhood

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Jude C's picture
    Jude C
    29

    Abuse is a concern, but I have to say that I would really have liked to have known that the street we moved onto a few months ago happens to have a meth house somewhere close to our building. At least once a week there's some crazy tweaker running about on the street, screaming at the top of his lungs, in the middle of the night. And even though the neighborhood is otherwise nice, I don't always feel safe.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Jude C's picture
    Jude C
    30

    *Every time I want to walk down to 7-11 or whatever, I have to check first and make sure that this one tweaker dude isn't doing his "crawl slowly across the street on hands and knees, screaming incoherent death threats" thing.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Jude C's picture
    Jude C
    32

    It's SO annoying.

    I've seen the same guy (Crawly) get arrested like 3 or 4 times. Like a hemorrhoid or a bad case of crabs, he always comes back.

    18 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment

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