https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/385/cookingdemo.shtml

Controversy is afoot in Grays Harbor County, Washington, over a deputy sheriff's demonstration of how to cook methamphetamine for a high school class as part of an anti-drug presentation, Seattle's KOMO TV reported Monday. Parents who heard about the do-it-yourself demo told the station they went "through the roof" when they heard about it. But the sheriff's office said it was standard operating procedure.

controversial school meth cooking demo

In a video of the presentation obtained by parents of students at Elma High School, the sheriff's deputy is shown mixing and pouring chemicals. "And the reaction will start occurring down there and start bubbling up," he explained. "Then you'll have a little bit down at the bottom, the white stuff, and that's your meth."

"I was really upset when my daughter had come home and said 'mom we learned how to make meth today in school,' " parent Teresa McCutcheon told KOMO. "My jaw just kind of dropped and I said, 'what?'"

McCutcheon's daughter Christene, who saw the deputy's demonstration, said it's one thing to learn about the dangers of meth and how to spot a meth lab, but showing kids how to make it is a different story. "I think it's a good thing to be educated about it, but it's bad if they're teaching you how to do it," said the high school freshman.

Grays County Undersheriff Rick Scott defended the demonstration, although he did say the department would review it given the complaints. "We talk about how methamphetamine is manufactured," he told KOMO. I think there's a big difference between 'how' it is manufactured and 'how to' manufacture it," he said. The department has used the same demonstration for years, he said. "We'll look at this, but we stand pretty firm in that this is an educational tool. The schools have been very receptive to it in years passed."

Not exactly the sort of chemistry class students and parents were expecting, though.

	Please make a generous donation to support Drug War Chronicle in 2007!

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you.

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Out from the Shadows HEA Drug Provision Drug War Chronicle Perry Fund DRCNet en Español Speakeasy Blogs About Us Home Why Legalization? NJ Racial Profiling Archive Subscribe Donate DRCNet em Português Latest News Drug Library Search special friends links: SSDP - Flex Your Rights - IAL - Drug War Facts StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet) 1623 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor, Washington DC 20009 Phone (202) 293-8340 Fax (202) 293-8344 [email protected]