Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 Source: Hendersonville Times-News (NC) Copyright: 2005 Hendersonville Newspaper Corporation Contact: http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/793 Author: Harmony Johnson, staff writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) COMMUNITY LEADERS DISCUSS SOLUTIONS TO METH PROBLEM Twenty people whose jobs are affected by methamphetamine use met for the first time Thursday in an effort to combat the highly-addictive drug's impact on Henderson County. In an hour-long meeting at Appalachian Counseling on Williams Street, the newly formed Methamphetamine Task Force discussed some of the meth-related problems facing Henderson County and began looking at ways to slow the drug's epidemic growth. Methamphetamine is an illegal stimulant made with a combination of cold medicine and household chemicals. It currently makes up 85 percent of the drug cases investigated by the Henderson County Sheriff's Department, said Lt. Steve Carter. Addictions, abuse and other incidents connected to the drug have spiked sharply in the past five years. The task force was created after nearly 50 educators, social workers, counselors, nurses, law enforcement officers and business professionals met May 26 at the Highland Lake Inn to discuss meth's impact on the area. At Thursday's meeting, the group split into two subcommittees. One will develop protocols for agencies that deal with meth users. The other will focus on public awareness, education, training, prevention and treatment. Both groups plan to model their efforts after strides made in other communities to combat meth. Thursday, they reviewed information about the Kansas Methamphetamine Prevention Project, a statewide task force that saw a decrease in the number of meth users after its first year in existence. For many who joined the task force, the initial meetings have been an eye-opener. Debbie Ward, a pharmacist at Eckerd Drugs on U.S. 25 North, said she was unaware of the county's meth problem until she attended the meetings. When she heard about a law under consideration in the General Assembly that would require pseudoephedrine and ephedrine -- common ingredients in some over-the-counter cold remedies and key ingredients in meth -- to be sold behind a pharmacy counter, she said her initial reaction was, "Why should I be so inconvenienced?" The law likely would cut into profits for some drug stores, Ward said. "I didn't see all these people that use it," she said. Thursday's meeting, Ward said, "totally changed my views." She would support a law that limits the purchase of pseudoeph-edrine and ephedrine, she said. Jane Ferguson, chief executive officer of Appalachian Counseling, said she was "blown away" by the group's interest in finding solutions to the meth problem. Ferguson organized the meetings in May and on Thursday. "I just want our community to come together to do something proactive that will make a difference," she said. "This task force will make a difference." Organizers are seeking legislators, firefighters, paramedics, doctors, business people, school officials and others affected by meth use to join the task force. The protocol committee will hold its first meeting at noon, July 19, in the Mountain Laurel training room off Fleming Street. The public awareness committee will meet at noon, July 11, at Appalachian Counseling. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin