that had a dramatic impact on the ability of the cartels to get their pseudoephedrine. they really, really struggled. >> narrator: with the mexican cartels unable to get their hands on psuedoephedrine, the potency of the meth being smuggled into the u.s. has plunged dramatically. >> the cartels suddenly found themselves on the ropes. and you find them turning to other desperate measures, turning to the old biker method of making methamphetamine. and that has continued on through today to the point where 70% of the meth that is seized by the federal government these days is actually the old biker meth-- b.l. methamphetamine, half as potent as the old crystal meth that was on the street five years ago. and that's good news for people who care about rates of addiction because the people who experience weaker meth are likely to use far less of it, and potentially not become addicted. >> narrator: but just as they always have before, the meth cooks have found a new way to get pseudoepherine. today, former cook robert lucier is clean after spending time in jail. but not long

krebs was one of just nine factories that manufactured almost all of the world's ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. >> methamphetamine, unlike most other hard drugs out there, is uniquely susceptible to supply side intervention because it's not something you can grow. it's not something you get out of poppy fields or out of coca plants. it's something you gotta cook up in a factory, you gotta make this stuff.

pseudoephedrine, plus shake is just as addictive and explosive. it's made t leaves behind a toxic mess law enforcement must clean up at an average cost of $2500 per lab. as part of its war on drugs, the dea passed out as many as $20 million in federal funds to help states clean up meth labs. but in late february, those funds suddenly dried up. >> that money just $8.3 million this year will be reduced to nothing next year, if the current budget remains in tact. since the funds ran out, farmer says it's no coincidence. >> unless we really have to bust them, we don't have the money to clean them up. >> there's no doubt that's definitely happened. >> all this is household chemicals. >> when the federal funds were exhausted, it sent folks into a spin. it's a scramble. >> meanwhile, the collateral damage keeps spreading. homes so contaminated they are quarantined. families ripped apart. >> take away the last three years. long, depressing three years of my life that i won't get back. >> more casual ties in the war on meth. cbs news, chattanooga. >>> man

it requires fewer steps and a simple soda bottle mix the key ingredient-- pseudoephedrine found in common medicines. yet shake, as it's known, is just as addictive and explosive. however it's made, it leaves behind a toxic mess law enforcement must clean up-- at an average cost of $2,500 per lab. as part of its war on drugs, for the last decade the d.e.a. has passed out as much as $20 million a year in federal funds to help states clean up meth labs. but in late february, those funds suddenly dried up. that money, just $8.3 million this year, will be reduced to nothing next year if the current white house budget remains intact. since the funds ran out, lab seizures have dropped as much as 50% in tennessee. farmer says it's no coincidence. >> reporter: is there a mindset, "well, unless we really have to bust them, we don't have the money to clean them up." >> there's no doubt that that's... that's definitely happened. >> all this is household chemicals, man. >> when the federal funds were exhausted, it sent folks into a spin. it's a scramble. >> reporter: meanwhile, the collateral damage k