Modern US Scenario source material--Meth Labs

[Cosmoline]

These meth labs are sprouting up all over the rural US. Crank has become the drug of choice these days. It can be made from basic household chemicals plus cold medicine and match heads. "Cooks" can operate in isolated shacks, trailer parks, motel rooms or the back of a car.
Punch up "meth lab" on google images and you'll see an array of them, plus mug shots of the very pale and thin cooks.

The operations are VERY profitable and would seem an ideal way for a degenerate, rural cult in the US to make $$ to support its activities. A cultist is bad enough, a tweaker cultist far worse.

The operations are well armed, as well. Here's one arsenal found at a meth lab in Alaska:

meth lab in Alaska (Image)

[EDIT - the above is a 2 megabyte image over 2,500 pixels across so I've changed it into a more forum friendly link! PoC]

[Graeme_P]

These meth labs are sprouting up all over the rural US. Crank has become the drug of choice these days. It can be made from basic household chemicals plus cold medicine and match heads. "Cooks" can operate in isolated shacks, trailer parks, motel rooms or the back of a car.

It should also be noted that these labs are extremely dangerous to anyone around them due to the large amounts of flammable and toxic chemicals they use. Be very careful with discharging firearms, stun grenades, or tasers around a meth lab. And then call the EPA to clean it up afterwards, as they generate large amounts of toxic residue. Of course, for DG-scenarios this is a good cover story for why investigators are walking around the tornado bait (sorry, trailer park) wearing Hazmat suits and respirators...

Oh, and it should also be mentioned that meth does bad things to it's users. Paranoia, nervousness, tooth decay, acne, and all sorts of other problems are common. Meth addicts may have their own variant of the Innsmouth Look.

Graeme

[Cosmoline]

Indeed, here's a famous poster put together by a Portland cop from mug shots of a woman as she went from petty criminal to tweaker:

[WinstonP]

When I was living in central Iowa, the police in a nearby county uncovered a meth lab operating out of a van. IIRC once the driver and 'cook' were removed from the vehicle they had to wait for a bomb squad (or was it the EPA?) to neutralize the vehicle.

Am I remembering correctly that meth was used by the Germans in WWII to keep the soliders alert?

[Cosmoline]

IIRC the USAF still uses it to keep pilots alert in emergency situations. I'm sure it was used quite a bit during the first Gulf War when they ran so many thousands of sorties.

[vitae_drinker]

Nowadays, there's a new process where they can put all the ingredients into a 2 liter pop bottle, and the reaction happens in there (with flames and fumes and the whole nine yards).

Pretty cool demonstration, all in all.

[PugNut]

Talking with the RCMP ERT team members up here that I teach in our Aikido club I asked them what they do to their weapons to reduce the off chance of flammables ignition.

Their primary weapon in this case is the MP5N models with a special type of silencer designed to operate with materials inside the core tube...the materials? Axle grease... Basically to mixed with the flammable powders to stop any burning powder material from exiting the sound suppressor port so that they can still remain efficient in the field yet not have to worry about an explosion. Their M4's, Ar-15's, and M16's they said are useless in a meth lab bust as the burning gasses are too difficult to contain for the 223.

The only problem they said is that many of their entry team member must carry two silenced MP5N's in this fashion as after the first mag they have then expended all of the axle grease to a point where the next mag would render a flame from the end of the muzzle of the suppressor.

Interesting subject no doubt, not to mention that in the event of an actual resister the subject would most definately feel no pain whatsoever thereby rendering any techniques of arrest that employ pain as their vice, moot.

Thank goodness for body physics

[Cosmoline]

The RCMP learned first-hand the dangers of taking on rural drug dealers when four of them got killed in Alberta by a lone suspect armed with a bolt-action rifle. I suspect they're taking fewer chances now.

The dangers posed from raiding these operations are enormous, which is another reason so many continue to function.

[PugNut]

The suspect James Roszko was actually growing Pot...and not only was he already prohibited from the ownership of firearms as well as having over 38 charges of violence and 16 various convictions including 6 for violence he has been subsequently released numerous times without having to sevre any serious jail time.

The justice system failed to label him as a dangerous offender on numerous occasions. True that the RCMP made serious mistakes including that of sending three rookies along with a more experienced officer to the scene, as well as their apparent lack of proper arms to field the situation.

Many mistakes were made in that event and hopefully the RCMP have learned from this issue, but I don't count on it.

Time will tell of course

Cheers

[Cosmoline]

Yes, but he was a rural drug dealer.

[Fallingtower]

I've actually had a scenario which had quite a lot to do with meth.

It was a Cthulhu Now scenario, where all the characters were custodians at Miskatonic U.

They were given overtime to handle a special job over the weekend....basically to remove the part of the floor where Wilbur Whateley dissolved. Why? So a new floor could finally be put in, the area had been carpeted over since the 1920's. If you recall the stain glowed and never went away...in fact it bled all the way to the basement.

The head librarian insisted that they handle all the materials as if it were toxic and that the removal should be kept as secret as possible.

The custodians had of course heard all the old stories and folklore about the craziness that went on around the University (The events surrounding The Dunwich Horror-obviously). There were a dozen or so different versions....mostly considered bunk. By modern times, MU has lots of wild stories both fact and fiction...Herbie West amongst them.

The clean-up crew was comprised of 4 men, who chopped, chizeled, swept up and vacuumed up every particle with very specific handling instructions which were provided by a few faculty members in the know.

The team (3 PC's and 1 distant Whateley relation NPC) did as they were told, but the bad apple tricked the rest of the crew, who didn't take the whole operation as serious as they should've. This was done by providing them with a case of Ol' Misky Malt Liquor which was iced and waiting for them on the libraries roof. The bad seed then stole the remains of Wilbur and took it back to the hills of Dunwich. For resurrection.

The bad custro and Whateley kinsman also happened to be part of a gang of violent cultist meth bikers...The Sentinel's .

The scenario then spun into first trying to stop Seth aka "Goat"...the custodian and gangmember (which failed), to then a hunt down and destroy gangwar type deal.

I never actually got to finish it because 2 of the 3 players had wife/girlfriend problems...but it would've been pretty cool.

If any of the investigator's were killed they were going to be given the option of playing a rival biker gang member...The Arkham Hammer's.

There of course was going to be meth lab's and shootouts in said meth labs....think about this....a resurrected and methed up Wilbur Whateley.

Good fun....

Maybe I should try to run it again.

Oh of course...later on there was going to be a guest star appearance by Brian Locknar and GLC. Originally from the scenario 'The Evil Stars' from Cthulhu Now! God's Lost Children music was going to be quite popular with The Sentinel's.

[cynick]

A pretty good resource would also be the movie Spun, with Mickey Rourke as a meth cook. Very enjoyable, but possibly not to everyones taste.

[dogstar]

Am I remembering correctly that meth was used by the Germans in WWII to keep the soliders alert?

Its also proscribed in cases of severe ADHD and Narcolepsy.

And the British (Dexamphetamine and Methadrine). Vietnam was also a war fought largely under the influence of speed. Speed has always been a very popular drug in the UK (only recently has cocaine supplanted speed as the stimulant of choice among drug users), though crystal meth in smokable shards hasn't quite taken off (meth traditionally in the UK is supplied powdered with adulterants).

I also suspect the 2 litre bottle mix method to be a bit untrue... It might replace a stage in the process, but given that Meth requires the application of some serious heat as well as having at least one exothermic reaction, I would imagine a plastic bottle being rather useless...

As to whether cultists would be involved in meth production... how about this a Cult group is trying to take over the Crystal Meth business, using the likes of Cthuga and Fire Vampires to eliminate the opposition.

[Orlock]

I've actually had a scenario which had quite a lot to do with meth.

Maybe I should try to run it again.

Fallingtower, this would make for a great MULA scenario, methinks. Pretty, please...

[Fallingtower]

I've actually had a scenario which had quite a lot to do with meth.

Maybe I should try to run it again.

Fallingtower, this would make for a great MULA scenario, methinks. Pretty, please...

I don't know bro...I do know William Jones and Brian Sammons who have both written stuff for Chaosium...

I'm still pretty screwed up though....I'll think about it.
I've never really written anything Mythos before...other than a few Tales of Terror.