Breaking Hoosier: New site shows if home was used as meth lab
Want to know if a previous homeowner was up to some Walter White, meth-cooking shenanigans? Well, wait no more.
The state of Indiana recently launched a new website that allows residents to investigate whether a home they intend to buy was ever used as a methamphetamine lab thanks to a new law set to go into effect July 1.
The law is aimed at alerting the state’s residents to the health hazards of living in a home that was once the location of a clandestine drug lab. Residents on the site can access an already active database dating back to 2007, when the law mandating the public have access to the information was implemented, Indiana State Police Sgt. Niki Crawford told the South Bend Tribune. The information was being handled by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, but the resources were not there to execute the online database, she said.
Crawford, who is the meth suppression section commander for the state police, said making this information available is a matter of public health and safety. Meth residue left behind from the cooking process can be a serious health issue, she said, causing nausea, fatigue, body aches and breathing problems.
A property owner has 180 days after the initial report of the lab to have the site decontaminated before it is added to the database. If a lab is cleaned before the 180-day period, it will never be listed.
“I just hope people use [the database],” Crawford said, “because it is a benefit for everyone’s safety.”