Methamphetamine Use on the Rise in Portage County

Methamphetamine production and use has increased in Portage County over the past three years, due in part to the rising popularity of “shake-and-bake” style meth.

“Shake-and-bake” meth is produced by combining the chemical ingredients in a plastic bottle, typically a two-liter soda bottle, and shaking the bottle to mix them.

The chemical ingredients to create meth are easily obtainable and include household items such as Coleman fuel, lithium batteries, and Sudafed, an over-the-counter decongestant.

According to a report by the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network, survey participants reported the availability of meth as “10” on a scale of “0” (not available at all) to “10” (extremely easy to get). Shake-and-bake style meth was reported the most prevalent.

The restriction on Sudafed is partly responsible for the rise of shake-and-bake meth production. According to a participant in the report, it can take 20 boxes of Sudafed to produce red phosphorus meth. Shake-and-bake can be produced with a much lower amount of Sudafed.

By Ohio law, a person can only buy 9 grams of Sudafed in a 30-day period. If a person attempts to buy more, that is typically used as probable cause and the police may investigate that person to see if they have any association with known meth users.

According to Portage County Sheriff David Doak, the shake-and-bake process is much faster than typical meth production, requiring the Drug Task Force to increase their efforts to find and seize meth labs.

“Because of the nature of making methamphetamine, it’s a dangerous process that can cause explosions,” Doak said. “People can get burnt. It’s a dangerous process to manufacture it.”

LISTEN: Sheriff David Doak explains some of the methods used by the Portage County Drug Task Force to investigate possible meth labs.

 

Shake-and-bake meth can be cooked in two to three hours. The chemicals and equipment can be easily transported in a car or even a backpack.

“Consequently the court gives us a little more leniency in obtaining probable cause,” Doak said. “If we suspect a meth lab is in the process, we can go in there without a warrant. We typically don’t. We like to gain as much information as we can.”

James Burdon, a criminal defense attorney in Akron, said that it’s not unusual for little evidence to be needed for probable cause.

“The search and seizure laws are very flexible,” said Burdon.

If potentially dangerous evidence is found, such as an active meth lab, the law allows the police to seize it, sometimes without obtaining a search warrant. Ohio Revised Code 2933.33 specifically allows police to search for meth labs if there is probable cause to believe the drug is being produced.

”It depends on whether an emergency exists,” said Burdon. “If you enter a person’s home without a search warrant, it’s because the danger exists.”

Because of the rise of shake-and-bake meth production, the police do not always have to enter a person’s home to find what is considered a “meth lab.” A bottle containing the chemicals to create meth is considered a “lab” when police discover it.

“We’ve had people with the product, enough of the chemicals in a backpack,” said Doak.

The “traditional” form of meth, red phosphorus, has declined in availability. Sheriff Doak said the process to create red phosphorus meth takes longer, though it produces more of the drug. It also requires a lab to be set up, usually in a person’s home. The difficulty involved in preparation has helped the cheaper, faster shake-and-bake method to become more prevalent.

“You don’t need a stove, you don’t need all of these beakers,” Doak said. “All of the chemistry stuff involved in a red phosphorus lab.”

Because the ingredients and supplies needed to create shake-and-bake meth are so easy to transport, meth labs were often set up temporarily in hotel rooms, where the product could be manufactured as well as sold. Sheriff Doak said this is no longer common.

“We had a period of time where that had spiked,” Doak said. “We saw a pretty big rise in using motels, hotels – typically motels where they could pull a vehicle up, they would usually get a room that was close to the vehicle. They would go in there and cook it.”

Hotel meth labs have become rare in Portage County as hotel management has become aware of what to look for.