It's become an epidemic. Meth addiction. More meth labs have been uncovered in Utah than anywhere in the nation. And, most who make the drug also use it. That means the number of people addicted is on the rise. News Specialist Karen Scullin has more.

Exploding meth labs and meth addicts heading to jail often make headlines. But many will tell you some addicts used to live decent, productive lives. That is, until they got hooked on meth. The drug is powerful, persuasive, and destructive.

A meth addict can never get enough. Mike Bemis says, "I used to smoke meth daily. Ten, 15 times a day. Just to stay awake. To stay high. To not have to deal with things."

Mike used to smoke meth. Matt Barlow would eat it. "We'd wrap it in toilet paper and swallow it. Or we would go to the health store and get caplets," he explains.

In the typical meth addict's environment, the only thing that matters is the next fix.

Don Mendrala, of the D.E.A., says, "Food on the floor and everything? Weeks, days, hours, who knows? And it's carry out food. They live minute to minute."

If an addict eats at all, it's surprising. Bathing, brushing teeth, and putting on clean clothes become low priority.

Bemis says, "I lost a lot of weight and I felt sick. Like something was wrong with me. Like this isn't normal, but I still continued to use."

"It rots your teeth right out of your head," Barlow says. "I've had five teeth pulled from it."

It is incredibly addictive. Psychologist Dr. Gary Jorgensen explains why. "You can tell an addict that the drugs are no good. But he knows in a minute he can feel good. Just in a moment."

"You start to get delerious, not in touch with reality," Bemis says.

"I would stay up a week, week and a half working 18, 20 hour days and it got to the point to where those days I would lay down. I wouldn't show up for two days in a row," Barlow says.

Matt was fired. Meth had taken control of his life.

And using soon wasn't his only crime.

He was also seeking out people to rip off to support his drug habit. Matt and Mike ended up in treatment under a court order.

Both are looking forward to a future without drugs. And Matt wants to be a good father to his daughter again. "She knows daddy's in a drug rehab and he needs to get well."

In Utah, over the last three years, admissions for meth addiction have jumped from 346 to 2,702.

Now more women are being admitted for meth addiction than ever before. And that's leading to an increase of children born addicted to methamphetamine.

Nicotine, cocaine, and methamphetamine have the same effect on newborns. They go through withdrawal.

Dr. Michael Clark works in the NICU at McKay-Dee Hospital. "You can see how painful the look on this baby's face is...jittering, the crying. Can you imagine the baby doing this for hours on end?" he asks.

But the jittering and vomiting will end in a few days. What you can't see are the long term effects. "Behavior problems, conduct disorders, learning disabilities, perceptual disabilities," Dr. Clark says.

And more and more children are being exposed to the toxic, explosive chemicals right at home. Mendrala says, "Our guys will get suited up in the tyvex suits and they'll go in and there will be a toddler in the same room as the lab wearing a diaper."

And with more and more children effected, The Department of Children and Family Services faces new challenges as workers are forced to take custody of children exposed to the toxic chemicals.

And unfortunately, the outlook for 1999 isn't good. Some expect the meth problem to only get worse. The costs to taxpayers will continue to rise, but the human cost will be even greater.