Meth Lab Funds Cut On Federal Level

Sheriff Scott Walls says federal funds that pay for cleanups of hazardous methamphetamine labs have run out. And now local law enforcement agencies like the Marshall County sheriffs office are on their own. Sheriff Walls vows to never quit the fight to keep meth and dealers of the dangerous drug off the streets. "This has been my project is to fight this battle in rural Alabama to fight this crystal Meth and we're going to continue that" said Walls. "This is not going to deter what we're doing or the cases we're making ".

In 2010 the Sheriffs office investigated nearly 285 meth manufacturing cases. Cleaning up a meth lab can cost anywhere from 2 thousand to 5 thousand dollars. Walls says he is looking into some other alternatives. He may even have to ask for donations to help with the cost. "Right now crystal meth is a major problem we're dealing with in Alabama and all the Sheriffs work this very hard and its funding we need and if we don't get it we will roll back on the local tax payer" said Walls.

85 percent of all meth arrests last year in Marshall county were made as a result of anonymous tips made to the sheriffs department. "That's going to be a major blow to what we do here. But we can't quit enforcing the law, we can't seizing the labs. So we're going to have to come up with some alternative ways of dealing with the problem if funding is not restored".