Police Find Meth Lab in Center City Hotel (Philadelphia)

[onehandle]

Source: NBC

A Center City hotel was evacuated and a man is in custody after police say they discovered a meth lab inside the building.

It happened around 5:30 a.m. at the Hampton Inn on 13th and Race. Investigators say an alarm system detected chemicals from a portable methamphetamine lab on the third floor of the building. Over 350 people inside the hotel were evacuated.

Investigators say a suspect is currently in custody for drug offenses, risking catastrophe and other possible charges. Police also say they let everyone back into the hotel except for the third floor occupants as the investigation continues. Police say they expect additional arrests.

Read more: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Center-City-Hotel-Evacuated-Due-to-Chemical-Leak-Officials--164119956.html

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I've stayed in that hotel. It's not a fleabag, but it's not a luxury hotel either. About three blocks or so from Independence Hall and right in the middle of Philly's convention area.

I suppose if drugs were legal, the cops wouldn't have bothered the poor guy.

[marble falls]

3. Hidden or snorted or smoked.

[LARED]

6. Why Drug Dealers Live With Their Moms

http://articles.latimes.com/2005/apr/24/opinion/oe-dubner24

[valerief]

8. Thanks for the link. Good explanation. nt

[Posteritatis]

17. For the most part they actually aren't that lucrative

We get the idea that dealers are rolling in cash mainly because most of the ones people know about are the big kingpin type figures.

The average dealer on the street or person cooking meth in their home? A lot of the studies into what their lives are like peg them as equivalent to a minimum wage job, and one with rather fewer benefits and more risks than a lot of those.

Think of it in terms of working in a retail chain store versus owning the chain. It's lucrative as hell at one end of that world, but very much not at the other.

(That's before getting into additional problems, like if a dealer has other habits which they sink their proceeds back into. I've known some very well-paid people who were struggling to keep the lights on because they drank or snorted their paychecks..)

[Kablooie]

27. Unless Walter White is in charge.

He's an unexploded bomb himself but his meth lab is under complete control.

[marble falls]

2. What? There weren't any trailor houses available?

[LARED]

4. Actually if drugs were legal

the Meth Lab would be treated as a chemical manufacturing facility with layers of safety processes to keep OHSA pleased.

(Not advocating this)

[onehandle]

5. Possibly. nt

[wordpix]

10. who's advocating legalizing meth?

the stuff is made of toxic chemicals

[uncle ray]

12. as are most pharmaceuticals.

[wordpix]

33. I don't think FDA approved meds are made of kerosene and ammonium nitrate

[may3rd]

15. the ingredients and processing are available to view on YouTube

Seriously,
these people need to be sterilized for destroying peoples lives

[Comrade Grumpy]

16. Meth is already a legal drug. It can be prescribed.

The brand name is Desoxyn, manufactured by Abbot Labs. They don't manufacture it in hotel rooms or trailers, though, because they can do it legally.

[Comrade Grumpy]

25. I wonder what would have happened if he obtained it under medical supervision...

[Nevernose]

26. Meth's illegality didn't keep him out of prison

It just made homes uninhabitable die to toxic fumes and enriched Mexican drug lords at some point. Like you, I think it's disgusting, soul destroying shit, and I've also had a loved one go to prison for life because of a murder committed while under the influence. I think, however, that keeping these substances illegal cause more problems than they solve.

[Riley18]

9. I have stayed at that hotel.

When I was there the hotel catered to business people. It is a about two city blocks from City Hall. The "Roundhouse" police station is on Race Street too. So you could say the guy chose a good central location for his crime. Pretty considerate for someone who could have blown up the hotel.

[MH1]

11. Why your last line? I don't know any one who's advocating legalizing meth.

Certainly, setting up a mobile chemical lab in a hotel room would not be legal, even if in some way meth were made "legal".

[Fumesucker]

13. If meth were legal why would there be a need for hazardous clandestine laboratories?

"Bathtub gin" more or less went away with the end of Alcohol Prohibition.

[Fumesucker]

20. The CDC is clandestine?

It's amazing the things I learn on DU..

Meth is popular to an extent precisely because you can work your ass off on it, it's a very American drug, lets you drag your ass to your third minimum wage part time job instead of falling out from exhaustion.

[Fumesucker]

22. Clandestine means hidden..

Those making illegal drug are interested in two things, first is not getting caught and second is profit. First class safety precautions are both expensive and obvious, neither criteria endears those precautions to those wanting to remain undetected while making a large profit.

Not everyone works in the oilfield, it's a vastly different environment than most minimum wage jobs, I know this from personal experience as a former oil patch worker.

[Fumesucker]

24. Actually it would change practices because corporations can be sued..

Kind of hard to sue the illegal meth lab on the next block..

People are more productive on speed, or can be at least for a while. I never claimed there were no ill effects but most minimum wage jobs don't have the inherent danger of a lot of oil patch jobs like rigger, pipefitter, welder or roustabout.

What speed does do is let you drag your ass to the third of your part time minimum wage jobs when without it you would collapse in a heap on the couch.. You may not be terribly effective when you get there but at least you can make it..

Keep in mind that the US Air Force sometimes issues speed to pilots who have to go on extended missions and stay awake and alert for extended periods...

[Fumesucker]

30. Funny, I feel the same way about alcohol.

I've had some horrific experiences in which alcohol addiction played a major part, I haven't gotten drunk in over thirty years because of what I've experienced from alcohol addicts.

[may3rd]

14. Is that anyway to run a business?

Now , in theory, the building must be raised.

[barbtries]

31. if drugs were legal

the production would be controlled.

[Javaman]

32. Jeez! why couldn't he cook it in walmart like everyone else?

Ohio man was making meth inside Walmart, police say

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/19/ohio-man-allegedly-makes-meth-inside-walmart/#ixzz226waAhpZ

Woman caught cooking meth inside a south St. Louis County Walmart

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-caught-cooking-meth-inside-a-south-st-louis-county/article_c21df9fc-b108-11e1-8d6f-0019bb30f31a.html

Woman Suspected In Walmart Meth Lab Strikes Again

http://fox2now.com/2012/06/19/woman-arrested-for-possibly-having-mobile-meth-lab/

Woman caught making meth inside S. Tulsa Walmart

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Woman-caught-making-meth-inside-S-Tulsa-Walmart/Rgu31vt1m0me-p0WwKsN_w.cspx

Junkies agree: Wal-Mart is best place to cook crystal meth

http://now.msn.com/junkies-agree-wal-mart-is-best-place-to-cook-crystal-meth