EVERETT – Sgt. John Flood came up empty-handed when he searched for a coffee grinder at local thrift stores.

“There wasn’t a grinder or blender anywhere,” said Flood, a sergeant with the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force.

It’s likely that meth makers are buying or stealing the secondhand items, Flood said, adding that meth cooks grind up cold or allergy tablets to make the illegal drug.

Flood spoke to about 30 retailers and hotel and apartment managers at a breakfast Wednesday at the Quality Inn as part of the Snohomish County Meth Watch program.

The program aims to educate business owners and employees about meth and what drug makers might be buying in their stores. Retailers can provide invaluable information to help the task force track down meth labs. Employees are supplied with forms they can fill out to report suspicious transactions.

Those reports detail what was purchased, including lithium batteries, cold medicine and the solvents used to make meth.

They also ask employees to include a detailed description of the customer.

“If someone looks like they’ve been up for three days and hasn’t bathed, and they’re buying a bunch of lithium batteries, we want to hear about it,” Flood said.

Flood was joined by Nancy Underwood Long, who spoke about the growing need for foster and adoptive parents to care for children removed from homes with meth labs.

Almost half the discovered labs have children living in the homes. The living conditions often are hazardous, and a majority of the children removed require long-term health care, said Underwood Long, who works for Families for Kids Recruitment Resources, a group that supports and recruits foster and adoptive parents.

“They lose so much when they’re removed from a home,” she said. “If they have a safe place, they will succeed.”

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.

For more information

For more information about Meth Watch or the Snohomish County Meth Action Team, call 425-388-3414.

Donations also are being accepted for breakfasts and educational information supplied to Meth Watch participants.