By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MASON - Making methamphetamine is dangerous - and so are the "tweakers," people who abuse the drug, officials warn safety forces.

That was one message delivered Wednesday to about 120 police officers, firefighters and medics who participated in a methamphetamine-awareness workshop at police headquarters here.

Attendees came from 15 agencies in Butler, Warren, Hamilton and Clinton counties to learn how to recognize signs of "meth" use and meth manufacturing - and how to protect themselves and the public.

"We're going to be seeing more and more of this, and these first-responders have to be ready; they have to know what to look for," said John Burke, commander of the Warren-Clinton Drug and Strategic Operations Task Force.

Meth, or "crank," is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant made mostly from common household substances. When combined, the ingredients form a toxic, flammable and potentially explosive brew.

"Anything you guys can think of, people are going to use to cook dope with it," said Dennis Lowe, a special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation, told the audience.

Mason Police Chief Ron Ferrell said his agency hasn't discovered a meth lab in the city yet. But he thinks it's important to educate his troops about the hazards they could encounter, possibly in a traffic stop.

"Even without stumbling onto a lab, if you stumble onto someone who's high on meth, you've got a problem right there," Ferrell said.

In a videotaped interview Lowe played, an Illinois "tweaker" told police that the drug kept him sleepless for up to 15 days at a time. "The only time I slept was when my body just shut down," he said. "It's real hard for anybody to get away from it, once they get into it."

Users become nervous, irritable and aggressive, Lowe said. They also become so paranoid that they may keep firearms by their side, install surveillance cameras and "set booby traps in their own house so people can't get in there and get them," Lowe said.

Since Jan. 1, officials have found 110 labs in Ohio - half the total for all of 2003, Lowe said.

"We know that it's coming our way," said Monroe Police Sgt. Frank Robinson. "And we have to know what to look for - and to be more careful."

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com