Pubdate: Thu, 13 Apr 2006
Source: Oroville Mercury-Register (CA)
Copyright: 2006 Oroville Mercury Register
Contact:  http://www.orovillemr.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2277
Note: email not listed on site, from other listings
Author: Paula M. Felipe, Public Safety Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

SHERIFF HOSTS ROUNDTABLE TALK ON METH WITH JOHN DOOLITTLE AND NATIONAL EXPERT

About 30 county, city, and state officials joined Sheriff Perry 
Reniff in a roundtable talk with U.S. Representative John T. 
Doolittle and a national expert about the problems of methamphetamine 
on Wednesday.

Representatives from the Probation Department, Behavioral Health, 
Feather River Tribal Health, Butte County Office of Education, 
Oroville Police, Sheriff's Office, Butte Interagency Narcotics Task 
Force, City Council, Board of Supervisors, Oroville Hospital, and 
District Attorney's Office were in attendance.

The talk opened with Reniff introducing Doolittle. "We live in 
bureaucracies where things can move at the speed of a glacier," 
Reniff said. "And, in Washington D.C. it's ten times more than that. 
Our mission is to coordinate efforts to combat the meth problem. Here 
in Butte County, exciting things are happening as we confront this 
epidemic that is destroying lives."

Doolittle began by acknowledging Butte County as one of the leading 
counties dealing with meth. "At the federal level, we need to 
heighten awareness of the problem," Doolittle said. "On a personal 
level, meth becomes a nightmare and also impacts communities in so many ways."

He then introduced Deputy Director Mary Ann Solberg of the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy.

Solberg spoke with passion and shared strategies for countering the 
meth epidemic. She played a videotape of new meth commercials 
designed to show the devastating impact of the drug.

One segment shows a man in a doctor's office complaining of 
respiratory problems, but he doesn't understand why he is sick. We 
learn he has yet to realize his new home used to have a meth lab, and 
his house is contaminated with toxic chemicals.

Another commercial shows an inmate in his prison cell. A photo of him 
as a young soccer player hangs on the wall. Tears steam down his 
cheeks as he reflects on what he has lost due to meth.

In another commercial, a young girl reads her own painful testimony 
about how violent her parents became when on meth. Another teen girl 
talked about the trauma of losing her father when he was taken to 
jail for meth.

"Whose got a problem now?" a voice says after each commercial segment.

"We learned how successful the campaign to regulate tobacco became 
when we talked about the effects of second-hand smoke," Solberg said. 
"The 'second-hand affect' shown in these commercials gets across the 
message that meth impacts the entire community."

Another strategy is random drug testing for high school students. "In 
the beginning, I was opposed to this idea," Solberg said. "Now I 
support it, but let me make this very clear. These drug tests must 
always, always be confidential and never, ever be used to punish the 
student. The tests should only be used for intervention and to help 
the student without any punitive measures attached whatsoever," she said.

Solberg cited reasons why such testing is effective: 1) It give kids 
a reason to say "no" to drugs, and 2) Parents and school counselors 
can identify those who are addicted and intervene with help.

"Kids are the greatest proponents of drug testing," Solberg said. 
"I've traveled around the country. In Pennsylvania, an auditorium 
with kids cheered when asked if they would support drug testing." 
Studies show random testing results in reducing drug use and 
improving grades while decreasing number of teen pregnancies and 
violence, she added.

Healing and treatment of addicts is another goal of her proposed 
strategies. "We need people to have access to recovery," she said. 
"And, we need only the best treatment providers because it is 
difficult to treat." Funding in the form of vouchers and grants was 
mentioned to help cover costs for treatment. "We also are doing 
clinical trials with new drugs, and hope they are successful," 
Solberg said. "There is a great deal being done in the fields of 
prevention, intervention, and treatment."

Solberg looked at Bob Wentz, Chief Executive Officer of the Oroville 
Hospital, and said, "Thank you so much for being here. Hospitals are 
critical in dealing with this problem. They can provide drug testing 
and obtain important secondary data which helps us understand the 
nature of problems."

One example she gave was someone coming to the emergency room with a 
broken ankle after falling off a ladder. "The broken ankle is 
primary, but what led to the fall? Was it drug or alcohol related? 
It's critical for hospitals and health clinics to be involved. Also, 
to help with screening, which aids in intervention," she said.

Another strategy she discussed is "market disruption." She said 
heroin used to be thought of as an "inner city" drug you shoot in 
your arm and was thought to be a "dirty, nasty drug." "But pushers 
understood how to market and use a different delivery system," she 
said. Heroin became a drug you could inhale or smoke with 
sophisticated nicknames to make it sound like a hip party drug, she 
said. "Now we have people with business degrees marketing drugs."

Solberg said the most effective way to reduce drug use is by having 
coalitions like the Drug-Free Communities program.

"Drug abuse is a local issue and needs local solutions," she said. 
"It's important to change norms around drug use." Young people need 
consistent messages over time from every sector of community. Think 
of messages about alcohol students get from the school district, and 
then go to the local convenience store and see the posters of "cool" 
beer commercials, she added.

"Kids are not getting consistent messages. It is also important to 
have expectations of students and also to provide the opportunities 
for success," she said. "Also, you cannot change youth behavior until 
you first address adult behaviors. We are role models for children."

To change the norms of a community, a coalition needs to be strong 
and every sector needs to be involved, Solberg said. "Adults are a 
captive audience in the workplace," she said and suggested sharing 
tips on effective parenting during lunch or through e-mail messages.

"It's about changing culture. Pastors can talk about importance of 
parenting and provide family activities," she said. "Or along with 
warning labels about drugs, pharmacists can place effective 
grandparenting tips into their shopping bags."

She said drug courts can help break the cycle of drug abuse, which 
can be passed on from parents to children. Change comes from the top 
down, and includes health departments, courts, laws, schools, 
hospitals, media, law enforcement, grocery stores, and businesses, 
she said. "For example, clerks can be trained not to sell items that 
can be used as inhalants to anyone under 18 years old."

Solberg said there are grant resources available. "We don't need to 
reinvent the wheel every time. We need to talk and transfer 
knowledge." She concluded, "We need to spread the word that meth can 
destroy communities. It kills children, families, and communities."

Butte County Office of Education's Marian Gage spoke about the 
Oroville CHAO/ADVICE Coalition for a drug-free community that she and 
Jana Wilson are working on.

Gage said one strategy they have came from data there was a parent 
connection, so the coalition is focusing on parents who are providing 
access to alcohol. "We also have the 'Oroville Cares' campaign, which 
spreads the message to the youth that the community cares about 
them,"Gage said. Some drug testing for cannabis is already being 
done, she said.

The coalition has partnerships with law enforcement, Oroville Police, 
the Drug-Endangered Children's Program, the Narcotics Task Force, and 
Neighborhood Watch programs in addition to working with council 
members, private industry, and the Digger newspaper to promote the 
coalitions "Drug-Free" community, Gage said. She also spoke of the 
importance of grants and plans to obtain additional grant funding.

In conclusion, Reniff and Doolittle thanked everyone. "Thank you for 
your great work. Let us know what we can do to support your efforts," 
Doolittle said.

For more information, see: www.methresources.gov, www.2stopmeth.org, 
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.

Doolittle supports "National Meth Prevention Week"

U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle supported H. Res. 556, a bill 
to create a "National Methamphetamine Prevention Week." Doolittle is 
a member of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine.

"Methamphetamine abuse is becoming a pandemic with horrible 
consequences," Doolittle said. "It is wrecking lives and communities 
across America. By passing this piece of legislation, we will help 
increase awareness of Methamphetamine and educate the general public 
on effective ways to reduce and prevent its use at all levels across 
our country."

This bill has support from the National Association of Counties, the 
National Narcotics Officers Associations' Coalition, the National 
Criminal Justice, as well as the Association for Addiction 
Professionals, the largest membership organization servicing 
addiction counselors, educators, and other addiction-focused health 
care professionals.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman