Pubdate: Tue, 16 Apr 2002
Source: Messenger-Inquirer (KY)
Copyright: 2002 Messenger-Inquirer
Contact:  http://www.messenger-inquirer.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1285
Author: Audrey Edmonson
Note: Audrey Edmonson is the newest member of the Messenger-Inquirer's 
Board of Contributors. The board is intended to give area residents the 
opportunity to provide a fresh perspective on issues they believe are 
important to local communities.
Note: Audrey Edmonson is a senior at Apollo High School.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

METH WILL EVENTUALLY SATURATE SCHOOLS WITHOUT AWARENESS

No matter where you live, what high school you go to, or who you hang out 
with, you hear about it in the halls, you see it, or you even know someone 
affected by it. There's no escaping it.

As my classmates get older, "partying" seems to become more and more 
popular. Kids you wouldn't even imagine are smoking pot and getting drunk 
every weekend in the basement with their unsuspecting parents right 
upstairs. These kids are making good grades, are involved in 
extracurricular activities, and therefore, their parents have no reason to 
suspect anything.

There are even some students who have parents willing to buy alcohol for 
them. As long as everyone spends the night and doesn't drive home, they'll 
take orders. They want to watch over their intoxicated children and friends 
rather than have them sneaking around. These parents are telling their kids 
that underage drinking is OK.

It would take a strong-willed teen-ager to pass on connections like that. 
Especially after you walk through school hearing people talk about how hard 
it was to get alcohol. If you have parents who will provide, you have just 
made about 20 new best friends.

Drugs and alcohol have always been around. Teen-agers are so used to 
hearing kids talk about it and being taught about how bad it is, that it's 
almost become socially acceptable. I can remember in middle school when 
we'd hear about kids smoking pot or drinking, and we'd automatically label 
them as "druggies." It's to the point now where there is no "druggie" 
group, because they're evenly scattered throughout every group. There is no 
stigma to doing drugs or alcohol. Now when we hear about someone who smokes 
pot, our reaction is more like, "Really? I didn't know they did that." And 
then we move on.

The community of Owensboro is facing even bigger problems than underage 
drinking these days. Since 1998, more than 200 meth labs have been 
discovered in Daviess County. When I read that in the paper, I was 
astonished. I do not personally know anyone who is addicted to meth, nor 
have I heard of any kids in my school that use it. However, I, not unlike 
most high schoolers, have stopped keeping tabs on what everyone does when 
they "party." It just got to be too much. There is no doubt in my mind that 
there are kids at my school on meth, or at least kids who know of people 
who are.

The people who have been arrested on meth charges in Daviess County have 
generally been an older crowd than mine. At first that was almost 
comforting, but when I look back at my grade school days, marijuana was 
only something we learned about in D.A.R.E. None of us had ever seen it or 
probably even knew what it was until then. Now I have friends who say their 
fifth- and sixth-grade siblings are trying it. The curiosity is hitting 
kids younger and younger as the years go by. Eventually, meth will have the 
same effect. It will trickle down through every age group until it has our 
children. Drugs do not discriminate. They will reach every type of person.

Recently I've begun to hear and read about how easy it is to make meth, and 
what a money-making business it is. That terrifies me. Next to partying, 
having money is the most important thing to many teen-agers. Who's to say 
kids won't get involved in this even if they're not addicted to it? All 
they have to do is go through a process of six steps, sell it, and they're 
rich. Money is very attractive to teen-agers and with many of us owning 
cars and counting the days until independence, it might be hard for some 
kids to reject the opportunity to make easy cash.

During the "Meth Madness" educational forum held by OCC-TV last May, 
Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain went as far as to say, "It has a 
stranglehold on this community, and if we don't get a hold of it, it's 
going to destroy us." This drug is far worse than underage drinking and 
illegal usage of marijuana. Meth has the power to destroy our community. In 
a poll taken at this same forum, 94 random people were asked if they knew 
anyone who has used methamphetamine. Fifty-five percent (over half) said 
yes. These numbers will only rise if we do not raise awareness.

As a community, we cannot let meth become another casual drug high 
schoolers hear about all the time. This drug will saturate our schools and 
take lives if we do not work on a solution.
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MAP posted-by: Ariel