Meth and Youngsters:
A Dangerous Mix

VOLUME XXII, NUMBER 39 OCTOBER 7, 2002

Many stations have done stories on the proliferation of methamphetamine labs, particularly in rural areas.
An investigative reporter has just revealed a dangerous new twist to the story, and it's probably happening in many other communities.
Here is how it was done.

More meth labs inside homes

Investigative reporter Trish Van Pilsum of KMSP-TV, Minneapolis, uncovered a disturbing trend: scores of children are being exposed to dangerous chemicals and toxic fumes from meth labs in their homes.
It used to be that illegal meth labs would most often be set up in an out building in a rural area --- a shed or barn where the heat and strong telltale fumes from the manufacturing process would not be noticed. But demand for it is so great now, and the price is so high, that some "cookers" have moved their labs inside --- with their families.

In a one-year period, more than 100 children were removed from homes where meth was made or sold in 10 Minnesota counties. The child welfare authorities took the children to protect them from dangerous situations, including the risk of explosion or fire.

Stations strengthening investigations

The meth report was the centerpiece of the 9 p.m. newscast on the first day of the new Fox duopoly in Minneapolis. KMSP is now a Fox station. WFTC is a UPN affiliate. There was heavy promotion about the switch. It was an important night for the stations.

Carol Rueppel, V.P. and G.M. of the duopoly, says local investigations will play an important role as the stations grow their newscasts in the coming months.

An investigative unit is being formed that will produce material for both stations.

Aother investigative reporter will be hired to appear on WFTC, and an investigative producer has just been added to work with Van Pilsum and the new reporter. Plus, consumer watchdog reporter Jeff Baillon, who also does consumer investigations, will work with the new unit, as will general assignment reporters who develop topics suitable for long-form investigations.

Duopoly drove re-formating

KMSP runs a one-hour local newscast at 9 p.m. WFTC airs a half-hour newscast at 10. The news staffs of both stations operate out of the KMSP newsroom. "We decided not to have the two stations compete directly against each other with 9 o'clock one-hour newscasts, which is what was happening," Rueppel explains.

The KMSP 9 p.m. newscast was kept. It had been the original 9 p.m. news in the market, and was a strong number one newscast at that hour. "It is the hard newscast of the night. It is geared toward what is happening tonight, breaking news and investigative," she explains.

WFTC's newscast was moved to 10 p.m., and was made into a half-hour program. "That newscast is also hard news. Because it is a half-hour, it has a shorter format. It will also include investigative, and will have its own investigative reporter," Rueppel explains. "We plan to have investigative reporting be far more visible on both of our newscasts," she adds.

Not all the pieces will be investigative in the traditional sense. Van Pilsum did a second, separate report on another subject for the ten o'clock news.

Dana Benson, Vice President of News, says "Trish's piece for WFTC on the first night was not entirely investigative, but it was a very compelling enterprise piece about a young girl whose mother was murdered while she was present, and the family's attempts to care for her after that."

Benson believes Van Pilsum, Ballion and the two new staffers will be a formidable group of journalists.

Benson says it was a strong night for the station because of several factors: it was the first night of the changeover, they had Viking's football that day, and the investigative report was highly promotable.
"It was a piece that was powerful, and the news numbers reflected that," he adds.

An alert detective provided key tip

Van Pilsum came across the story while checking with her law enforcement sources. One detective had become so worried about children being close to the drug manufacturing that he had started videotaping not just the evidence of meth being cooked, but evidence of it being cooked near children. He documented the proximity of children's toys to the meth labs.
Van Pilsum asked him to pull some old cases that had already been charged out. The detective gave her evidentiary video and photos he had used in the cases.

The officer showed her what he was talking about.
"He took us into a home that had recently been raided for a meth lab. There had been a two-year-old girl in that home. The caretaker happened to be there, so we had terrific access to the home to see how it was laid out and where the meth lab was," she explains. Investigators had found a syringe lying on the floor not far from children's toys. They found a crib where a two-year-old girl slept in another room. "From there we went to the woman who used to live in the home, and she agreed to talk to us," says Van Pilsum.

Mother regretted loss of her child

The child welfare agency took control of the little girl for the child's protection. The mother was remorseful to have exposed her young daughter to such danger: "It was stupid. It was selfish. I never meant to hurt her. I never want to hurt her. She's my life," she told Van Pilsum. The woman claimed her boyfriend did not actually make the meth there, but only stored the ingredients there. The number of children in this situation was impressive.

The child protective workers say the parents are ignorant of the dangers or are too hooked on the drug themselves to care.
The mothers Van Pilsum spoke with claimed they had been dragged into the situation by boyfriends.
"Several talked about the consequences they and their kids are facing now because they let these men into their homes. But the reason they let them in often is because they are hooked on meth themselves," she adds.

Assertive police checks brought a raid invitation

It required many contacts to get video of a raid at a home where police suspected there were children.
"We called about 10 counties where they have active drug units, and put all of them on notice, explaining that if they had a raid involving kids, we would like to come along," she says.

Meth labs are always dangerous to raid because the materials can be explosive, and there are usually weapons involved.
Add in the need to protect a child's identity, and it would be even trickier to cover this story.
"It took a fair amount of persuasion to get them to agree to call us the next time they had a raid. Then, we just kept pressing," she says.

Finally, she was paged. A raid was underway.
The news crew members were able to get pictures of the drug suspect, a woman who lived in the apartment, and her two-week old baby, who was being carried out by a child protective worker.
"We had complete access to everything except the inside of her apartment. Prior to shooting, we agreed to mask the identity of undercover agents," says Van Pilsum.

A major concern for the station was protecting the children's identities. Because the baby was so young, they went ahead and photographed it.
"If it had been a two- or three- or four-year-old, we would not have showed the child's face. But a two-week-old baby was basically unidentifiable ," she adds.

Problem is very widespread

Van Pilsum hadn't realized the size of the problem.
"When I talked with the first law enforcement sources, and they said they had seen this in their county probably 10 or 15 times, I was shocked. When I called the other counties, to see if we could go along on raids, I couldn't believe how many cases there were in other counties!" she says.
"I would absolutely suggest reporters in other parts of the country check with local law enforcement sources and child protective agencies to see if this is a problem," she says.

"It was a good story, when we were in Isanti County, and there were 15 kids. But it was a great story by the time we called 10 counties, and discovered there were over 100 kids," says Van Pilsum.

Dangers include fumes, explosions

Children are now close to the danger, with direct exposure.
"In the rural areas, they have moved these labs from the out buildings right into the homes, and the kids have specific risks associated just with meth," she explains.
"The chemicals involved in methamphetamine production are so unique in terms of the dangers to kids that to me, it made it an incredible story," says Van Pilsum.

One detective whom she interviewed about the dangers of the fumes to young lungs had a close call with the fumes himself.
"He went into a meth lab in full-protective gear, and passed out because the fumes were so strong. It illustrates the kind of danger that exists for these kids. It is very toxic," stresses.

The child protective workers in one county throw away the clothing of children who come out of meth manufacturing homes.
"Because the chemicals can soak into the clothing, the workers don't even want to wash the clothes. They don't want a child's blanket or toys. They don't want anything out of the home. That's how toxic it is," says Van Pilsum.

Many of the children from these homes have had serious respiratory problems because of the exposure.
"They have what seems to be chronic colds or respiratory conditions or sometimes flu-like symptoms," she adds.

Children at meth labs elsewhere, too

Benson believes this is a story that would work in other markets, too.
"It is something that may be happening more than we realize. It was a situation that was somewhat of a surprise to us, and it is worth a look to see if it is in your market," says Benson.

"I have done a lot of meth stories, and a lot of stories on child protective services, but I have never seen a story like this. It was very compelling, and we got great response. People had no idea this was happening," says Van Pilsum.

One final note of caution: Meth raids are, of course, very dangerous.
"You must be able to trust the law enforcement officers that they're not going to walk you into something where you're going to get shot, or that something is going to blow up, and that is the reality," she warns.
"You must have a very clear understanding with law enforcement about where it is safe for you to be," she adds.

See also:   Meth Madness Projects:  Information and Arrests
A high-profile news series, and an on air and online town meeting were  used by WFIE-TV, Evansville to warn its viewers about the dangers of meth.

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