Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jul 2006
Source: Daily Sentinel (TX)
Copyright: 2006 Cox Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.dailysentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3023
Author: Emily Taravella, The Daily Sentinel
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

HEALING HELPERS FIGHTING METH USE IN DEEP EAST TEXAS

Over the past year or so, Melanie Richmond has seen  first-hand how
methamphetamine destroys lives.

"I have a high school classmate who is now in prison  because of
meth," she said. "A member of our extended  family has been affected
by it, and two children in our  community have died in cases that
involved meth."

Richmond, a Nacogdoches resident, started to wonder  when people would
wake up to the problem that is "right  here in our own back yard."
Then, she started wondering  what she could do to wake people up.

Richmond, a massage therapist by trade, said she knew  nothing about
methamphetamine. But she had developed a  passion for addressing this
problem, because she had  witnessed first-hand the havoc that it
wreaks in  people's lives.

"I went to a Mothers Against Meth Web site," she said.  "But that
organization focuses primarily on the drug,  and I wanted to focus on
the drug-endangered child  – the innocent children who are
affected by the  use of meth in the home."

Richmond was eventually contacted by an organization  called "Healing
Helpers," and she immediately set to  work to establish a chapter of
the organization in Deep  East Texas. She started the group in
December 2005, and  last month a conference was held to educate the
community about the dangers of meth.

Richmond said about 50 people attended the conference,  and she hopes
next year's will be even bigger and  better. She is also hoping to get
a foot in the door at  local schools, so she can work with students to
make  them aware of the incredible dangers associated with  meth.

"We're also trying to get this issue on the legislative  agenda," she
said. "We want them to give Child  Protective Services the capability
to do more for these  children. Too often, the case workers' hands are
tied."

The Legislature made strides in the fight against meth  when they
limited the amount of ephedrine a shopper can  purchase at one time.
Ephedrine, found in many cold  medicines, is one of the main
ingredients in the  manufacture of methamphetamine.

As far as Richmond is concerned, prevention is the
key.

"Treating someone who is hooked on meth isn't like  treating someone
who is hooked on other types of  drugs," she said. "They recommend 18
to 24 months of  residential treatment. Even that yields only a
50-percent success rate."

As hard as it is to recover from an addiction to  methamphetamine,
Richmond said she has heard from  former addicts that it can be done.
And those former  addicts applaud her efforts to increase prevention
efforts in Nacogdoches.

"They don't know what will happen to them the first  time they use
it," she said. "They think they can do it  once, and not get addicted."

But the sense of euphoria and energy and the insatiable  urges created
by meth use, are what keep the addicts  going back for more, she said.

The insatiable urges are one of the most dangerous side  effects of
the drug, she said. Richmond has collected  news stories from across
the nation, detailing the  horrendous things that people have done
while under the  influence of methamphetamine. She has read the
stories  and relayed them to others so often, she is now quite
familiar with details of dismemberments, beheadings,  stabbings,
shootings and sexual assaults. In some of  the most tragic cases,
those under the influence of  meth have committed some of these
offenses against  their own children.

Those are the cases that have driven Richmond to  fulfill her personal
mission to fight the growing  problem of meth use in East Texas.

"At this point, we're still trying to figure out where  we fit in,"
she said. "We're working with Nacogdoches  Safe and Drug Free, and
we're open to suggestions from  the community. We want to serve and
educate wherever we  can make the most impact."
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