Pubdate: Tue, 05 Dec 2006
Source: Hampton Union, The (NH)
Copyright: 2006 Seacoast Online.
Contact:  http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/hampton/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3146

ILLEGAL DRUG ABUSE COULD END YOUR LIFE

State officials held a press conference in Stratham  last week to 
talk about the efforts to combat the  expansion of methamphetamine 
use in New Hampshire.

They said they are at the front line of the battle,  "doing 
everything possible to get a foothold on meth  before it becomes a problem."

On the same day at another press conference just miles  away in 
Seabrook, it was announced police had made a  bust netting the 
largest amount of crystal  methamphetamine ever seized in New England.

Clearly, this problem is here in our small cities,  smaller towns; 
right here in our own back yard. It is  no longer limited to some 
non-specific Midwest  geography, nor is it just a problem of some 
faceless  metropolitan area.

Meth is cheap and relatively easy to make. Its  consequences include 
myriad health problems from unsafe  weight loss, premature aging, 
teeth loss, and  ultimately death if its abuse is prolonged.

The panel at the Stratham press conference assured  Seacoast 
residents that local, state and federal  officials are working to 
stop the abuse of meth before  it grows. They called on the need for 
educational outreach. At times, calls for "educational outreach"  can 
be frustrating without the tangible results of  arrests, but in this 
case, it truly is the best tool we  have in fighting drug abuse.

We stress in no uncertain terms that meth is insidious;  it will 
destroy lives. The same can be said of other  hard drugs, and, for 
that matter, the abuse of alcohol  and prescription drugs will also 
inevitably destroy a  certain degree of one's life, if not in total.

The state recently trained 300 police officers on how  to deal with 
meth. Furthermore, the federal government  has made it more difficult 
to acquire the chemicals  used to create the drug. These are indeed 
powerful  steps, and it is reassuring that proactive measures are 
being undertaken.

Ultimately however, we come back to the need for our  community as a 
whole, and right down to the individual,  to stop and consider the 
consequences of abusing drugs.  Millions of dollars will be spent to 
track down, arrest  and convict meth dealers. Millions more will be 
spent  on educational and recovery programs. Still millions  more 
will be spent to fight dealers of other drugs and  to provide that 
same educational outreach and recovery  programming.

Though rather simple in print, much of our fight does  truly come 
down to the cliche of "Just say no."

Parents should speak bluntly to their children about  the dangers of 
drug abuse. There are too many stories  of fractured and destroyed 
lives to sugarcoat this.  That same discussion should be had among 
teenagers with  their peers and themselves, as well as adults 
thinking about the "euphoric" high of drugs like meth.

They will negatively affect your life. They could end  it, too.
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