The numbers in Harrison County are really alarming -- last year, state and local police broke up 29 meth labs.

That was bad enough. But already this year, police have found 22 labs in less than four months. Today, they declared a war on meth.

It began with a table full of the tools of the trade for meth makers. Most people are stunned at how easy it is to make this killer drug. It creates an addictive downward spiral that leads to death. And that always surprises people.

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“As they get to watch some of the photos that we have of people that are on meth, it shocks them as well,” said Sgt. Paul Andry of Indiana State Police. “That's probably two things, probably the chemicals that people actually mix together and put in their bodies, and then what it does to their body.”

Meth creates an almost unrecognizable shell of a person. But the meth makers harm more than themselves.

“We call them mom and pop labs, making enough for themselves and a few other people. But the problem is that the danger is disproportionate to the amount of the drug that they are making,” said Sgt. Andry.

The danger is environmental. A meth lab in your neighborhood can contaminate the area for children, animals, and in the worse cases, they can catch fire and explode.

“They pretty much exploded on the scene in the mid ‘90s and it was a matter of catch up for law enforcement and we're not getting out and trying to educate the community, about what's going on so they can be part of the solution.”

Recovering meth user Anthony Coffman says education is the answer.

“The only was we can put a dent in this thing or slow down, is by working together as a community,” he said.

And Harrison County will eventually stop the meth labs. The only question is in which community will it crop up next?

If there is one positive to finding more meth labs, it is that people are more aware. Meth labs have a horrible odor, and the drug produces strange behavior by the people making it.

And as people become more aware of meth makers, they are tipping off police, who are busting up the dangerous labs.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.