Cop Taught Kids to Make Meth, Parent Says

May 3, 2005 -- -- An Elma, Wash., woman said she was shocked when her daughter came home from high school and told her that an anti-drug demonstration turned into a "how-to" class in making methamphetamines.

Teresa McCutcheon said she didn't believe what her daughter told her at first, but a video of the class proved it.

The video, which was shown to ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle, shows a Grays Harbor County sheriff's deputy telling the class, "And the reaction will start occurring down there and start bubbling up."

As the demonstration continues, the deputy, a member of the county drug task force, tells the class, "Then you'll have a little bit down at the bottom, the white stuff, and that's your meth."

McCutcheon told KOMO-TV she considers that a recipe for disaster.

"I was really upset when my daughter had come home and said, 'Mom, we learned how to make meth today in school,'" McCutcheon said. "My jaw just kind of dropped and I said, 'What?'"

McCutcheon said she found it hard to believe what her daughter was telling her. She wanted to see for herself, so she went to the school and demanded a videotape of the class. When she saw it, she said, she found that her daughter was telling her the truth.

She said it's one thing to learn about the dangers of meth and how to spot a meth lab, but it is something else to show kids how it's made.

"I think it's a good thing to be educated about it, but it's bad if they're teaching you how to do it," said high school freshman Christene McCutcheon.

KOMO-TV showed the video to Undersheriff Rick Scott, and he confirmed that it is the same demonstration the drug task force has been putting on for several years. Given the McCutcheons' concerns, he said the demonstration will be reviewed.