It’s telling that the day after beginning work on a series of stories on the effect methamphetamine is having on our communities, we received information that officers had busted another meth lab in Cahaba Valley Trace in North Shelby — the second discovered at that address in less than five months.

In the first two and a half months of 2010, the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force found and destroyed 11 meth labs, which is 11 more than in the same time period in 2009.

The lesson is clear.

Meth has infected Shelby County, as it has so many other communities in Alabama.

And there is no one segment of the population affected by meth.

Everyone is susceptible — blacks, whites, teenagers, working adults and the elderly.

That group includes your family and friends.

If you harbor suspicions there may be a meth lab in your neighborhood or close by, don’t wait. While meth labs produce deadly drugs, such locations can themselves be deadly.

The ingredients used to make meth are highly unstable, making meth labs a danger to the surrounding community.

Call the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force at 670-0436 and let them investigate.

You could end up saving the lives of your loved ones, in more ways than one.