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DEL.ICIO.USCoffee, tea or meth?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A friend of mine forwarded me an email that suggests you might get more than coffee or tea if you make coffee or heat water in a hotel room’s pot. Seems that methamphetamine users might be using the pots to heat the drug.
The report was aired on WAFF 48 News in Alabama. Here is a link to the [story] (http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=5980064&nav=menu6215). It does appear to be legit, even to my skeptical mind. Do any of you know about this? What do you think? Do you use hotel room coffee pots regularly? I do, and it never occurred to me to do anything more than rinse them out.
Here’s the email that was forwarded to me: Ask just about anyone in law enforcement, and they will tell you to be careful if you ever brew coffee in a hotel room. Marshall County (Alabama) District Attorney Steve Marshall was quoted as saying, “I know enough now that whenever I go to a hotel, regardless of how nice it is, I’ll never use a coffee pot. The story explains that coffee pots are sometimes used to brew methamphetamine. And since meth labs in hotels aren’t anything new, Rick Phillips of the Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit was cited as saying there’s definitely a risk, adding, “The coffee makers that you find in every motel room is an ideal heat source. They mix it up in the coffee pot, put it on a heat source and let it sit there and cook.” The story says that the problem is residue from chemicals such as red phosphorus and iodine. “Typical sickness and issues that would come with any chemical exposure, simple nausea, vomiting to maybe a hospital visit,” said Phillips. Phillips says it’s pretty easy to tell if a coffee pot has been used to cook meth. It will have a dark reddish-orange stain. You should also be skeptical if there’s a chemical odor when you walk in the room.
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