Pubdate: Tue, 17 Oct 2006
Source: Daily Times-Call, The (CO)
Copyright: 2006, The Daily Times-Call
Contact:  http://www.longmontfyi.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1475
Author: Pamela Dickman

METH SUMMIT FOCUSES ON ROLE OF FAMILY IN PREVENTION

LOVELAND -- After spending Monday talking about  methamphetamine with 
a room full of law enforcement  officers, counselors, social workers 
and others, Frank  Lancaster decided to speak with his teenage son.

"This is going to be our dinner conversation tonight,"  Lancaster 
said, illustrating that he had heard the  officials, who, during the 
daylong meth summit,  stressed the importance of family in preventing 
drug  use.

As a district chairman for the Boy Scouts, he plans to  continue 
working on ways to provide youngsters with  positive alternatives to 
drugs -- something many at the  Larimer and Weld County Meth Summit 
said was key to  beating the drug.

And as Larimer County manager, he plans to pull  together a list of 
county resources to help a  soon-to-be-formed steering committee.

"We could help serve as a catalyst to get this going in  the 
community," Lancaster said.

He did not want the momentum, excitement and hope  created during a 
full day of panels, speakers and small  brainstorming groups to fade.

More than 50 people listened to each other, spoke  earnestly -- as 
Sheriff Jim Alderden put it, showed  they can "play in the same 
sandbox" -- and developed a  vision. They want to create a steering 
committee to  craft a master outline to deal with methamphetamine in 
Larimer and Weld counties, using ideas generated during  Monday's summit.

Those ideas include:

Providing long-term treatment with personal  accountability.

Making sure addicts have the support they need, such as  child care 
or help finding a job or a place to live.

Involving families in treatment and support.

Continuing law enforcement's focus on cutting off  supply of the drug.

Bringing the community together to offer support and  other 
activities to lure residents away from drug use.

Changing the community norm from a town where alcohol  is a key 
ingredient in fun to a community that promotes  healthy living.

That positive community image is key to prevention,  said Scoot 
Crandall, executive director of TEAM Fort  Collins.

Typical "scared straight" prevention methods do not  work and, in 
actuality, have the opposite effect of  increasing drug use, Crandall said.

The television comparison of a fried egg to the effect  of drugs on 
the brain -- "This is your brain; this is  your brain on drugs" -- 
also doesn't work, he said.

The $14 million Montana meth project that involves  hard-hitting 
billboards showing the dangers of the drug  and urging people "Not 
even once" is money down the  drain, he said.

What works, Crandall said, is promoting health and  positive behavior.

The numbers in the Larimer County Detention Center  prove every day 
that the classic prevention approach is  a "complete and utter 
failure," Sheriff Jim Alderden  said.

He hopes for better but admits he is not as optimistic  as some 
others at the summit.

As it is, Alderden said, the agencies in question  already do not 
have enough money. Where will the money  for prevention and treatment 
come from?

Answering that question will be a task of the steering  committee 
that will be formed from the seeds of the  Monday meth summit, which 
focused on finding a new  approach.

After all, change is the goal -- a very achievable  goal, said Deb 
Hill, a former meth addict who is now a  drug counselor.

"You are the ones who can help shift the paradigm from  'stop them' 
to 'help them,'" she said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elaine