Meth Orphans

May 3 - Rubble is all that's left of a meth lab in Tennessee after it exploded. A house in Boaz blew up in February because of a meth lab.

Meth: it's dangerous, it's addictive, and it's deadly.

Jenny Rohas' mom was a meth addicit, she was taken away and placed with her aunt and uncle. They were addicts, too. Instead of giving Jenny a home, they made her life a living hell. They burned her with a blowdryer, locked her in a box, hung her in a closet and finally scalded her to death in a tub of hot water.

Another mother left her child in a hot car for 10 hours while she did meth. The 5 month old died.

"Me being on drugs I neglected my oldest children, I just left them and didn't see them for years," says Stacey, a recovering addict.

Stacey started smoking pot with her parents when she was 11. As she matured, so did her addictions. Because of Stacey's addiction, she lost her three children and went to jail.

"Anything you can go to jail for except for murder, I've been to jail for. I can't even tell you, I know it's probaly over 70-80 times," she says.

It was in jail that Stacey hit rock bottom, vowing to change her life.

Today with the help of Marshall County Court Referral Services, Inc., Stacey is staying clean and getting her children back.

Children who live in squaller; playrooms that look like pig pins; Sippy cups beside their parents drugs. These are daily scenes for Valley social workers.

Sonya Murdock with Marshall County DHR said, "As he searched in the basement there was a full running lab, 2 children in there, 1 was an infant."

The contents of a meth lab are toxic, flammable and deadly. Crews dress in special suits for protection when they enter a lab, yet a child lives inside with no protection.

Because of the toxic dangers, the child is stripped down. Entering foster care like they entered the world; dependent and unclothed.

The children who make it out are the lucky ones, they find refuge in foster care, as a result, the number of children in foster care in the Valley is doubling.

If you would like to become a foster or adoptive parent you can call 1-866-4-AL-KIDS or log onto their website.