Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jun 2006
Source: Mohave Valley Daily News (AZ)
Copyright: 2006 Mohave Valley News
Contact:  http://www.mohavedailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3625
Author: Ric Swats
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

SHERIFF - METH USE IMPACTS USER'S ABILITY TO FUNCTION IN SOCIETY

Although Mohave County's unemployment rate is hovering at about 4 
percent, many more county residents could have jobs if it weren't for 
drug use, according to Sheriff Tom Sheahan. "A lot of people who use 
meth (methamphetamine) cannot keep a job," Sheahan said. "They cannot 
keep a job so they have to commit to a life of crime to survive."

There is no way to tell for certain how many meth and other drug 
users there are in the county, but the Mohave County Sheriff's Office 
made 577 drug arrests last year and the Mohave Area General Narcotics 
Enforcement Team made an additional 408. Of the 408 MAGNET arrests 
212 were meth-related. Most of the meth sold locally used to be made 
in local meth labs, but that has changed and the sheriff is not 
raiding near as many meth labs.

"It was one a week, 50 to 60 a year. Now that the product is coming 
in from Mexico we may do 15 or 20 a year," Sheahan said. "Because of 
our porous borders it is much cheaper to produce methamphetamine in 
Mexico than it is in the United States, especially with many counties 
banning ephedrine. Most of the larger shipments that have been taken 
down lately in Arizona have been Mexican and have been in the 
possession of illegal immigrants transporting it. We're having an 
impact here in the county. One of the larger meth captures was in the 
Lake Havasu City area and the majority of people involved in it were 
illegal immigrants.

"If the federal government ever decided to do something about our 
porous borders it will have a huge impact on meth here."

Not only does meth use have a negative effect by reducing the 
workforce, it creates other problems that cost businesses a lot of 
time, money and effort. Those are crimes committed by meth users that 
prove costly to businesses.

"We have a large percentage of women who are in jail directly or 
indirectly (from meth use) for credit card theft, fraud, where they 
buy something over the Internet and try to pawn it, property crimes 
and identity theft," Sheahan said. "We've had quite a bit of an 
increase in that in the last couple years."

Sheahan isn't just enforcing the law when it comes to meth, he's 
taking an active approach to campaigning against it. The sheriff's 
office has printed a poster that it is asking every business in the 
county to put up. It features before and after photos of four meth 
users to help business owners identify addicts.

There are also community outreach programs.

"It's probably the major issue that we deal with. The sheriff's 
office teaches the DARE program, Drug Abuse Resistance through 
Education," Sheahan said. "We have a drug court to work on these 
issues from enforcement and punishment to how to rehabilitate someone 
out of this way of life and into a productive citizen. Some people 
need treatment. They need help."

The drug is also a burden on the taxpayers because a majority of 
inmates in the county jail are there either directly or indirectly 
due to drugs.

"Not only here, but throughout the nation, out of the inmates that we 
book into our jail, either directly or indirectly because of drug use."

The sheriff's office non-emergency phone number is 928-753-2141.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman