Pubdate: Sun, 19 Mar 2006
Source: Vacaville Reporter (CA)
Copyright: 2006 Vacaville Reporter
Contact:  http://www.thereporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/472
Author: Brian Hamlin, Senior Staff Writer

PREVENTING ADDICTION

Solano Official Warns Kids About Meth

After watching thousands of his clients' lives ripped  apart by
methamphetamine abuse, Solano County Public  Defender Jeffrey E. Thoma
last year decided to take  personal action to help cut down on his
future caseload  of meth victims.

In November, Thoma launched an ambitious project  whereby he would
visit classrooms in each of the  county's 14 middle schools to talk to
teens about the  dangers of methamphetamine use and share his own
insights into the damage the illicit stimulant has  caused.

"Most of the people who have gotten hung up on  methamphetamine have
destroyed their lives," said  Thoma, who became the county's Public
Defender in 2004  after holding a similar post in Mendocino County for
  more than seven years. "I've had a lot of clients that  had a
methamphetamine problem. It's just evil."

Hoping to make a difference one classroom at a time,  Thoma selected
middle schools (usually seventh-to  ninth-grade) for his personal

intervention program. He hopes to have visited  classrooms from Dixon
to Vallejo by the end of the  school year.

Young people, Thoma said, are most likely to have their  first
encounter with the drug in middle or high school  and he wants to act
as an early warning system.

Thoma said he preferred to make his presentations to  classroom groups
rather than large school assemblies  because the smaller classroom
environment gave him a  better opportunity to answer questions and
interact  with individual students.

"That way I've been able to have pretty coherent  question-and-answer
discussions," Thoma said.

For the most part, he added, students are thoughtful  and engaged when
he comes to talk about meth.

"They've been great. You can tell by the questions they  ask," Thoma
said. "There

hasn't been one smart (aleck) question yet, and that's  something when
you're dealing with middle schoolers."

The veteran public defender prefers a straightforward  approach to
classroom presentations, telling students  who he is and why he's
concerned for their welfare.

"I tell them 'Hey, I'm the public defender. If you're  ever in
trouble, we're here for you, but we'd prefer  for you not to need our
help.' Then I try to show them just how destructive methamphetamine
can be," Thoma  explained. "I don't give them simplistic solutions. I
try to talk to them the same way I would talk to a  client."

Meth, he tells students, may give the user a great  first
high.

"Then you spend all your time chasing that first high  again. The
chase gets worse and worse and  methamphetamine takes over your life,"
Thoma said.

He reinforces his presentations with the faces of meth  - photographic
portraits of chronic meth users with  their sunken faces, empty eyes
and rotten teeth.

Thoma recalls scores of bewildered clients who  committed
uncharacteristically violent crimes while  under the influence of
methamphetamine.

"A lot of the time they simply couldn't remember why  they committed
the crime," Thoma said.

As a public defender, Thoma has seen individual lives  destroyed,
families torn apart and careers ruined by  the drug in a relatively
short time.

"I'm not objective about this anymore," he said. "I  hate
it."

When meth's involved, Thoma said, "anything can  happen." Unreasonable
paranoia coupled with unexpected  violence can lead to tragic results.

"I think much of the randomness and violence we see  today can be
directly attributed to the rise in the use  and abuse of meth," he
added.

Taking the time to make the school presentations, Thoma  said, is just
part of being a member of the community.

"It's worth my time. I'm a member of this community.  I've got a young
son," Thoma said. "If I can make any  headway on this scourge, it's
worth it." 
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MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)