Opinion

Landlord meth lab cleanup laws are needed

TBO.com
Published: September 20, 2012

Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, on stamping out methamphetamine:

The war on drugs is a reliable supplier of deranged public policies. For a couple of years now, our choice for Most Ridiculous Anti-Drug Obsession has been the drive to restrict sales of common, over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines and keep track of people who buy them.

This is all about stamping out methamphetamine, or meth for short, a home-brewed concoction that's said to produce a cocaine-like high. Products such as Sudafed have become difficult to buy because they contain a decongestant called pseudoephedrine, which can be used to make meth. Sales of these popular medicines are limited and customers' names are logged.

The result: People with the sniffles are treated like drug fiends.

But not all responses to the meth "epidemic" are silly. State Rep. Matt Gaetz and his dad, state Sen. Don Gaetz, are crafting regulations that make more sense.

The Gaetzes hope to work with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Health Department to establish rules under which hotels and motels will be required to thoroughly clean rooms that were used as meth labs.

Police sometimes find meth labs in low-cost lodging.

"When our law enforcement officials go into these hotel rooms," Rep. Gaetz told the Daily News, "they wear full hazmat suits and masks. But, absent some sort of action, 48 (or) 72 hours later somebody could have their 3-year-old toddler crawling around in toxic waste."

The Gaetzes want to require the sort of action that's needed. In addition to establishing rules for cleanup, they want to create training sessions for hotel and motel housekeepers.

One might argue that hotel managers already know how to clean rooms and don't need state bureaucrats telling them which mop to use and how long to scrub. But the residue left by a meth lab is a unique health hazard. It's reasonable to impose special rules.

We believe that businesses want to do the right thing. Sometimes they just need a little encouragement.