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. - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel