Pubdate: Tue, 15 May 2007
Source: Daily Nexus (UC Santa Barbara, CA Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Daily Nexus
Contact:  http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2729
Author: Casey Ibbetson, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

METHAMPHETAMINE RAVAGES SB COUNTY

Deadly Drug's Threat Become Crystal Clear

Methamphetamine has cooked in Santa Barbara County drug laboratories 
for decades, yet its current prevalence trumps even the days when 
Andy Warhol's cohort Edie Sedgwick made her meth-fueled romps through 
Isla Vista's streets.

It is the drug of choice in the county, and accounts for a 
significant portion of its crime, particularly in North County. Its 
popularity maintains a stronghold in I.V. and at UCSB, and it can 
still be found in the homes of 40-year-old dealers on Abrego Road or 
in the dorms of 18-year-old freshmen on campus.

Oft ignored and rarely talked about outside of the C.A.S.E. 
classroom, the drug has infiltrated the area. In 2005, for instance, 
78 percent of drug-related bookings to juvenile hall were for meth, 
while more than half of Santa Maria's Drug Court participants who 
tested positive for drugs were found to have meth in their system.

Beyond the personal problems related to health and general 
well-being, meth causes a headache for the county both for its 
financial and social costs. Officials hope to cut the problem off at 
the knees, but are finding the eradication - or mere stemming of it - 
increasingly complex.

Antifreeze, Drain Cleaner and Kitty Litter

Created by the Japanese a century ago, and used by Kamikazes before 
they made their last flights, meth was recently named California's 
"drug of choice" by a report from the county's Methamphetamine 
Prevention Network Summit. But you don't have to tell Santa Barbara 
County officials that; community leaders have been decrying meth's 
prevalence for years.

Meth is a stimulant that activates the central nervous system and 
drastically increases the amount of dopamine - a neurotransmitter 
associated with pleasure, enjoyment, and positive reinforcement - in 
the brain. And thanks to that jolt of euphoric dopamine, meth is more 
addictive than many other drugs.

"The sensation of anything by comparison - pleasurable sex or easy 
money - is dwarfed by the amount of dopamine meth releases into the 
brain," said John Doyel, the treatment coordinator for Santa Barbara 
Alcohol, Drug & Mental Health Services. "It is more addicting than 
alcohol or marijuana."

Crystal meth appeals to all sorts of people, from the 
weight-conscious woman who uses the drug to curb her appetite to the 
student who uses it as a study aid to the curious preteen, Doyel said.

"It is a culturally synchronic pandemic that fits in beautifully with 
American society, as it appeals to things we value, like optimism," Doyel said.

What's more, anyone can brew methamphetamines with a mixture of 
household items, including detergents, cold medicines and kitty 
litter. And addicts can get high almost any way they please: Meth can 
be injected, inhaled, or ingested. Of course, purchasing it isn't 
that difficult either: a few doses run for about $20.

In the short term, meth can induce irritability, insomnia, confusion, 
tremors, convulsions, cardiovascular collapse or even death. Meth 
users also often develop "meth mouth," in which their teeth rot out 
of their head as a result of the drug and the user's poor dental 
habits and the consumption of sugary drinks, which users crave on 
binges. Even if a user quits the habit, he or she is still subject to 
a slew of long-term effects, including vitamin and mineral 
deficiencies, lowered resistance to disease and organ damage to the 
lungs, liver and kidneys.

But then, the user isn't the only one who suffers. Families in Santa 
Barbara have been torn apart over the drug; about half of the 300 
child out-of-home placements as of July 1, 2006 were done so as a 
result of abuse or neglect resulting from a parent's meth use.

Some I.V. residents have noticed the influx of the drug into their 
beachside town. In a report given to the Santa Barbara County Board 
of Supervisors, former UCSB student Shanna McGuiness said she had 
seen the drug - and its effects - in I.V.

"I have recently heard that meth has been circulating in I.V., and I 
am hoping that it does not become the new trend, because I have seen 
the effects it can have on families," she said. "It's disturbing to 
know that this is the drug people in California are using, because it 
has the potential to be more harmful than other things."

Meth and U(niversities)

Because of meth's widespread appeal - and the "Superman" feeling 
associated with it - meth addiction has spread like a weed in 
California, which the National Institute on Drug Abuse said has one 
of the highest rates of meth usage.

Colleges are a hotbed for meth usage, Doyel said.

"This is a drug that has always been a problem in California; they 
used to deal it everywhere up at Stanford because kids used it to 
study harder," he said. "There is still an old speed limit sign 
posted up on frat row that says 'Speed, $5 a hit.'"

Although UCSB Alcohol & Drug Program assistant director Al Rodriguez 
described the typical meth user in the Santa Barbara area as "a young 
adult, typically male, unemployed and from North County," the issue 
hit close to home last year when university officials discovered a 
meth lab inside a residence hall room, after the two occupants had 
been kicked out of the university due to low GPAs.

A former neighbor of the dorm room meth producers, who wishes to 
remain anonymous, said although he knew his neighbors dealt drugs 
from time to time, he had no idea that people in the building were 
involved in the production of crystal meth.

"I knew they experimented with a lot of stuff, but didn't know about 
the lab until they got kicked out of school," he said. "Every new 
drug was a new story. I was never home at the same time as them, so I 
didn't know them very well, but they told me they had used meth once 
or twice and said it was kind of crazy...

"I knew a lot of people who used meth last year but never thought it 
was a problem," he said. From observing his neighbors' use, he said 
he could tell the drug "is really addictive and makes people really 
awake and really hyper."

The student said it was somewhat frightening that no one would have 
known about the existence of the on-campus lab if the pair had not 
been kicked out.

Other students reacted similarly upon hearing about last year's incident.

"It really scares me that something like this could have happened on 
this campus , because I had no idea that a crystal meth lab could 
have been next door to me," said Sandra Stokes, a second year 
linguistics major. "I had no idea that meth was a problem in this 
area, let alone on our campus."

A Santa Maria Export?

But outside Isla Vista and UCSB's domain, the problem is not nearly 
as hidden. According to 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray, crystal 
meth has created a "crisis" and is a "burden for the county because 
of the way it destroys peoples' lives."

In certain parts of Santa Barbara County - particularly North County 
and the Santa Maria area - Gray said meth helps contribute to high 
levels of violent behavior and abuse, in addition to the overcrowding 
of county jails.

According to a January 2007 county report, meth use has mushroomed in 
a relatively short span of time; in 2001, 19 percent of patients in 
county drug treatment programs claimed meth as their primary drug, 
but in 2006 this increased to 31 percent, making it the drug of 
choice in Santa Barbara County.

Currently, about 55 percent of Drug Court participants in Santa Maria 
who tested positive for drug use were found to be on meth; in Lompoc 
- - a possible location for a new detox program site - the statistic is 
42 percent, while in Santa Barbara it is 33 percent.

"It destroys families because parents lose their sense of right or 
wrong," Gray said.

Gray recalled an incident involving two parents who accidentally 
killed their child while under the influence of crystal meth.

"They literally rolled over [in bed] and suffocated their own child 
while sleeping," Gray said.

Apparently the tragedy is not entirely unheard of. Last March, Lompoc 
resident Jason Gomez rolled over on his infant twins and suffocated 
them to death while under the influence of methamphetamines.

Kelly Rodriguez, a recovered meth abuser, told the Methamphetamine 
Prevention Network Summit that the drug practically ruined her life: 
She lost her children, went to jail and became homeless.

"Using meth was the most self-destructive thing I've ever done," 
Rodriguez said.

Biting Back At "Meth Mouth"

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is currently looking 
for a solution to the meth "epidemic." The Methamphetamine Prevention 
Network Summit's report painted a dour picture of the current resources.

"Services were being strained and circumstances such as county jail 
over-crowding, waiting lists for detoxification and overwhelming 
caseload for child welfare services were attributed to meth abuse," 
the report states.

One possible new approach, highlighted in the report to the board, is 
a project called "From 'Me' to 'We.'"

"It's a new benchmark for bringing together a broad-based coalition 
of public and private agencies, organizations and other stakeholders 
to fight the impact of methamphetamine," Gray said of the program.

The "broad-based coalition" aims to bolster its ranks with forums 
held throughout the spring to get the public support and to create 
more strategies for combating the problem.

Others note the answer isn't an easy one. Regardless, Rodriguez of 
the UCSB Alcohol & Drug Program said the meth problem in the county 
needs to be proactively addressed.

"Our collective approach to our meth problem needs rethinking," he said.

- -David Ferry and Dana Olsen contributed to this report
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman