Pubdate: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) Copyright: 2005 St. Paul Pioneer Press Contact: http://www.twincities.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/379 Author: Mary Bauer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) NEW TACTIC IN METH FIGHT DARE Offers Seminars To Educate Communities Methamphetamine use is growing so quickly that fighting it is straining government budgets at all levels and across department lines, from police to social services. Many counties inundated with illegal labs are left to their own devices. Yet education efforts are hodgepodge, some say. "The problem is that methamphetamine is becoming an epidemic, and it's taken everybody by surprise," said James Gilbert, a former Minnesota Supreme Court justice and a board member of Minnesota DARE. "There's no coordinated leadership at a statewide level." On Nov. 1, Gilbert will be the keynote speaker for a two-day session in Columbia Heights geared to Anoka County on the growth of methamphetamine use. The special meeting, the second so far in the state, is the fruit of a new collaboration between Minnesota DARE, the Minnesota National Guard, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and several other state agencies, said Kathi Ackerman, executive director of Minnesota DARE. The effort aims to provide consistent information to communities and officers about the quickly morphing world of meth, Ackerman said. Public officials and citizens can attend a presentation the evening before a longer training session for DARE law enforcement officers who speak at schools and community events. State agencies will provide drug expertise, speakers, current information and materials such as brochures. Deputies from other counties will speak to officers during the training session, and officers will get information about treatment options. Minnesota DARE is coordinating the seminars. Because it's a nonprofit, DARE can accept donations from private businesses to pay for the sessions, which cost between $16,000 and $20,000 each, Ackerman said. The Vikings, a longtime Minnesota DARE supporter, are sponsoring the Anoka County sessions. "Everybody was doing their own thing and reinventing the wheel, and none of us have the funding for that," Ackerman said. If all goes well, the Minnesota venture could become a model for other states, Ackerman said. The group plans another six seminars in the coming months. The public presentations are a new approach for DARE, which usually deals directly with kids and teens. The community events are geared to adults, with more data and research. "Everybody thinks it's not their kid," Ackerman said. "This drug means your kids. This drug means every income level. This is the first drug affecting 50 percent women." Parents and community leaders are hungry for such information. The first two-day session in the Crow Wing County community of Emily drew 200 people. At a separate speech at Longville in Cass County this week, Gilbert drew 135 attendees. Ackerman expects up to 400 people in Columbia Heights. Anoka County was chosen as the first metro site for the sessions because of the large number of meth labs dismantled there in the past two years. Gilbert said that Anoka County ranks first out of Minnesota counties in terms of the number of meth labs and meth-making arrests. The scenario is typical of urban areas in other states, Gilbert and Ackerman said. "Meth is coming in from the outer suburbs, and here, Anoka is the one," Ackerman said. Meth got specific mention in the Anoka County budget for 2006, when county commissioners approved more spending for human services. The extra funding was in part to help kids coming out of meth homes and also to contract jail space from a neighboring county to alleviate crowding, much of it due to increased meth use. The county is hardly alone. Gilbert estimated that Minnesota law enforcement agencies spent $200 million last year fighting meth, which doesn't include the costs of treatment, social service expenses such as foster care or lab cleanup. In the last year, 1,086 people went to Minnesota prisons on meth-related charges, he said. "Our fear is that if we don't get in front of this problem, it will take us over," Ackerman said. "How can we financially handle it?" Mary Bauer can be reached at or 651-228-5311. IF YOU GO The public presentation on the growing methamphetamine problem is from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 1 at Columbia Heights Senior High School, 1400 49th Ave. N.E. Doors open at 6 p.m. for coffee and informal discussion. To make reservations, contact Minnesota DARE at 952-903-9224 or --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman