Neighbors Possible Meth Cooking

[Ashalyn]

Hello I currently live in Missouri. There was rumors that my direct neighbor was cooking meth in his apartment. I wasn't sure if it was true or not so I stayed (I really hate moving). So when they got evicted (not sure of the reasoning) they had to do a complete pull of everything in the apartment. It has been about a year and the apartment has not been even touched. We are also starting to see things that might be considered an issue with the possible close exposure through the vents especially in our 10 year old (such as anger issues and seems to have way more issues at the house). Because of this we are in the process of moving out. Should they have disclosed if there was a meth lab that close. I have asked on a couple times and cannot get a straight answer which makes it even more worrisome. Would that be grounds to breaking our lease? I am buying a test but kind of scared to see the results because it will make me feel awful if we not only exposed ourselves but our kid to that for so long. I was trying to get some advice if it is worth contacting a lawyer or if we should just pay off the remainder of the lease.

 

[quincy]

Your first task is finding out if the neighbors used their unit for cooking meth. All other actions will stem from that.

But, yes, your landlord is/was obligated to inform you and other tenants of any methamphetamine contamination/production.

 

[Just Blue]

Hello I currently live in Missouri. There was rumors that my direct neighbor was cooking meth in his apartment. I wasn't sure if it was true or not so I stayed (I really hate moving). So when they got evicted (not sure of the reasoning) they had to do a complete pull of everything in the apartment. It has been about a year and the apartment has not been even touched. We are also starting to see things that might be considered an issue with the possible close exposure through the vents especially in our 10 year old (such as anger issues and seems to have way more issues at the house). Because of this we are in the process of moving out. Should they have disclosed if there was a meth lab that close. I have asked on a couple times and cannot get a straight answer which makes it even more worrisome. Would that be grounds to breaking our lease? I am buying a test but kind of scared to see the results because it will make me feel awful if we not only exposed ourselves but our kid to that for so long. I was trying to get some advice if it is worth contacting a lawyer or if we should just pay off the remainder of the lease.

Have you taken your child to his Pedi to see if he is suffering from the effects of chemical fume exposure?


As an aside...You boy may be entering puberty a little early...that could cause mood swings.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to Missouri's Landlord/Tenant laws:
https://law.justia.com/codes/missouri/2018/title-xxix/chapter-441/
And here is a link to a CDC article on a study of methamphetamine exposure:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6552a3.htm
You would be smart to have your family tested.

 

[FlyingRon]

If they were cooking meth in an adjacent apartment you would know, it smells. You'd smell it long before you had to worry about health effects. I can't vouch for Missouri but around here, Meth cooking is passee. It's far easier to just import it now.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

2018 still shows a lot of meth lab seizures in 2018 in MO.

https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/DevelopersPages/DDCC/methLabDisclaimer.html#

 

[quincy]

2018 still shows a lot of meth lab seizures in 2018 in MO.

https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/DevelopersPages/DDCC/methLabDisclaimer.html#

It is the same in Michigan. I haven't heard much here about importing meth.

As to smell: Meth can smell like ammonia or vinegar, so the tenant-neighbors might have been doing some heavy cleaning rather than cooking meth. Not likely, maybe, but possible.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

To put that report and the 50 labs reported in the proper light I went back an looked at the 2004 report to compare. Wow. 2,927 in 2004.

 

[quincy]

To put that report and the 50 labs reported in the proper light I went back an looked at the 2004 report to compare. Wow. 2,927 in 2004.

Better enforcement is possible - or there is a new drug in town.

 

[FlyingRon]

I spent some time with the narcs in the local sheriff's office here. We've got a pretty hefty drug problem in our county (while most of the county is rural, there are some heavily urban areas). Meth is as popular (or even rising) as ever, but meth heads are lazy sots. It's cheaper to exploit someone in a foreign country (typically Mexico) and truck the stuff up here than it is to make useful quantities at home. It's also pretty amazing how much heroin is around here (you'd have thought the other opioids would have displaced that).

Still pisses me off that I can't buy big bottles of Sudafed at Costco anymore.

You can tell when the allergy season is bad here as the meth heads go set to converting their stash back to sudafed.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Still pisses me off that I can't buy big bottles of Sudafed at Costco anymore.

Well, I've never shopped a Costco (or Walmart either) but I too am still disgruntled that Sudafed is no longer an unrestricted purchase item. I suffer from a lot of nasal allergy problems pretty much all year around, and having to go every 2 weeks to pick up a small box of Sudafed is a pain in the butt and a lot more expensive than it would be if I could buy it in bulk.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I too am still disgruntled that Sudafed is no longer an unrestricted purchase item.

Me too. I'm pretty sure that the retail price for the small boxes has increased pretty significantly as well.

 

[commentator]

"So when they got evicted (not sure of the reasoning) they had to do a complete pull of everything in the apartment. It has been about a year and the apartment has not been even touched."

They had to do a complete pull of everything in the apartment. Okay this means? And it has been about a year and the apartment has not been touched, so did they or did they not have someone come in clean out and detoxify the apartment? I gather no, so the apartment has just been sitting there for a year.

And now, lets see, your ten year old is acting up. Is anyone else having any health problems? But you're taking care of this problem, you're moving out. And breaking the lease. Want to know if there's a point in seeing an attorney to what, sue them for not cleaning the apartment next door properly? Allow you to break the lease without penalty because they haven't cleaned up the apartment properly? Or sue the apartment complex for something that you believe to be making your ten year old ill or causing them psychological problems? I'm not really understanding.

It doesn't sound as though there is any conclusive proof that you have yet, and you are now in the process of moving out, that would show that you or family members would be suffering from any long term lasting health issues right now from rumored meth cooking in the apartment last year. It's hard to say there will be issues in the future.

In fact, the meth cooking thing is dying down, thank the Lord! And around my part of the world, it really helped that Sudafed is harder to get now. Too bad for all the legitimate users of Sudafed, having seen the meth crisis first hand far too much around here, I do not care if they make it harder to get antihistamines. Legitimate wanters can get them still. Just don't smurf in and try to buy fifteen packs.

That, combined with the fact that the stupid folks who do a lot of meth have mostly od' ed and killed themselves by now, with black tar heroin and fentalyl laced crap everywhere that is easier and safer to buy than it ever was to cook the meth (and cooking it took some small degree of math and measurement skills) means it's dying out.

One thing I have noticed is that the meth house pollution crisis that was so big several years ago....well, nobody seems to be dying on the streets now because they were exposed to the very vehement very identifiable scent of meth cooking a year or two ago. I think you might want to talk to an attorney, but frankly, I suspect you'll end up paying to break the lease anyway. You don't even know for sure if there was any meth cooking activity next door and it would take a while and a lawsuit to find all that now.

 

[Shadowbunny]

It's also pretty amazing how much heroin is around here (you'd have thought the other opioids would have displaced that).

Heroin is actually cheaper than buying prescription opioids off the street. In fact, a lot of heroin users started with a legit prescription for pain medication; when that supply gets cut off they switch to buying from the streets then to heroin. It's estimated that when a patient uses opioid pain meds for more than 5 days, the risk of addiction increases 15-fold.

 

[Ashalyn]

I appreciate all the assistance .

To clarify a little further. My son suffers from ADHD and DMDD. So he has anger problems and I am aware but it became much more aggressive the last few years. Also both my husband and myself are much more aggressive in this house. We all suffer from trouble sleeping. My husband never really had an issue until a couple years ago) I at first was thinking it might be just us but as mentioned that rumor now is going full circle.
As far as smell there were always unique smells throughout the building. I am pretty naive when it comes to drugs and also I want to believe the best in people. But now that it has been over a year nothing has been done and no one in the office can say yes or no it is scaring me. I shouldn't of been blinded by cheap rent we will regardless pay our lease until it is done just though added to the puzzle of issues going on.
I am in the process of getting a meth residue kit for my apartment to test. The biggest question coming here is A. Should they of let us know if true. B. Would that be grounds for lease breakage (enough to consult a lawyer ) if test comes back positive. Again I am working on putting together proof if it is the case just trying to know steps going forward. I will update if positive test takes about a week to get here.