Pubdate: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2006 San Gabriel Valley Tribune Contact: http://www.sgvtribune.com/writealetter Website: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3725 Authors: Richard Rawson and Jackie Speier Note: Dr. Richard Rawson is the associate director of the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program in the School of Medicine. Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, is the chairperson of the California Senate Select Committee on Methamphetamine Abuse. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) WE ARE BEING BATTERED BY A BLIZZARD OF METH IT wasn't an anti-drug Red Ribbon Week speaker who recently enlightened a classroom of Temecula kindergartners about California's pervasive methamphetamine problem. It was their teacher. She was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of meth in the classroom. So much for the ABCs and hooked on phonics. This was a lesson on average Californians getting hooked on meth. California is ground zero for the national meth epidemic. Estimates from California's Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs suggest more than one half million Californians have recently used meth and many of them have crossed the invisible line into meth addiction. It's a first. Publicly funded drug treatment centers are now seeing more meth addicts than alcoholics. Of the 100,000 Californians in drug treatment programs on any given day, one-third of them are dependent on meth, according to the DPA. The meth problem snaked its way into California through the backdoors of rural communities where it originally was being cooked and manufactured. It stayed under the radar for many years as it spread throughout the state. Now it's everywhere. From the farmlands to deep suburbia to the inner city, the public health of the Golden State has been dramatically battered by a blizzard of meth. At no time in California's history has one drug done so much damage to so many people. While it is obvious that people drawn into the trap of addiction have their lives terribly degraded by meth, many others also suffer serious damage from this plague. An especially cruel aspect of the meth problem is the damage it is doing to the women and children in California. Women are particularly drawn to meth because they believe it will boost their energy, help them lose weight and cope with the demands of family and work. In some cases it's been called "mother's little helper." But it becomes "the disaster drug" when mom loses her health, the kids to foster care, her job and the house. Current research is showing that when pregnant women use meth it can cause damage to the developing fetus. If kids are present in the house or lab where meth is being manufactured, a high percentage of children will test positive for the drug by inhaling the vapor of the cooking drug and by accidentally absorbing the drug through skin contact. While these direct effects of the drug on children are damaging, the psychological damage done to kids raised in the chaotic, neglectful and often violent lives of addict/parents is equally if not more harmful. No one wants to see kids taken from their parents, but when parents are actively using meth, they are unable to provide their children with safe or competent care. As a result, children raised by meth producers and addicts are often taken from their parents and put into an already overloaded foster care system. There is hope. There is clear research evidence that meth users respond positively to treatment. Treatment works. Over the past five years, more than 100,000 Californians addicted to meth have received treatment via Proposition 36. Without question, this voter initiative has saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives. Research conducted in California demonstrates that treatment delivered within a drug court works particularly well. Drug courts give meth addicts a better chance at rehabilitation, help keep families together and save the state millions of dollars in jail expenses. Drug court judges and treatment programs create extremely effective teams successfully keeping recovering users in treatment for 12 to 18 months. It's necessary time for successful meth recovery. Treatment assistance for Californians addicted to meth is part of a solution, but we shouldn't sit by and treat the casualties. A vigorous and effective public information campaign about the health risks of using meth is critical. Accurate knowledge about the devastating impact of meth on the body and brain can prevent new users and the damage from meth can be prevented. According to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, roughly two-thirds of the meth used in the United States comes from the larger labs, increasingly in Mexico and controlled by Mexican crime organizations. We need to ask for cooperation from the Mexican government and toughen laws against smuggling meth over the border. The meth epidemic in California has taken more than 20 years to build to its current level. It is not going to go away anytime soon. It is not a flash in the pan. Although the White House has ignored the meth problem for far too long, it has come out much stronger recently calling meth "the most significant drug threat to California." It's time to wake up. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake