Meth Labs Increasing in Motel/Hotel Rooms

Methamphetamine use continues to rise and with it the need for decontamination of homes. Crisis Cleaning is the leading cleanup contractor in a multiple state area.

Recently meth manufacturers have gotten even trickier in their method of cooking meth. They check into a hotel or motel, manufacture their meth and check out. Often the management has no knowledge a meth lab was ever on their premises. So think of the people who check into that room from then on; they will be subjected to methamphetamine residue, which is harmful to their health. Meth residue hangs around for years. It must be decontaminated.

Crisis Cleaning uses a product called Crystal Clean that actually renders the meth chemicals inert or kills them. After police have removed the lab, Crisis Cleaning tests the home or motel/hotel room to find out how high the levels of meth are, and then clothed in personal protective gear, their certified technicians decontaminate the property. A post test is then performed to be sure the meth has been eliminated and the home or room is safe for human habitation.

It would be great if there were a meth test kit that gave immediate results, but presently no accurate one exists. Crisis Cleaning uses the best meth test kit available and tests an entire home by taking different test swabs in every room. Then those swabs are placed in a test tube, sealed securely and mailed overnight to a laboratory. Test results are often back within 3 to 7 days. This is great for the homeowner or landlord of a rental or even a motel/hotel manager, but not so much for a traveler who is checking into a motel/hotel room for the night.

Although there are rarely any signs to indicate a motel/hotel room has been used as a meth lab, here are a few tips:

• Look for unusual stains, maybe red or purple in color.
• Check for burn or drip marks on the wall.
• Be sure your smoke detector hasn’t been deactivated or covered with duct tape.
• If the meth lab was recent, there may be an unpleasant chemical odor.
• Beware of lower end motels, they seem to be targets of meth manufacturers, but even up scale hotels are not off limits for a meth “cook.”
• A final tip, if you know the area where you will be staying, you can check the address against the meth lab data base, but be aware, this is only the known meth labs, and even then all of them have not been recorded. http://www.justice.gov/dea/seizures/