Pubdate: Sat, 16 Feb 2008
Source: Bonner County Daily Bee (ID)
Copyright: 2008 The Bonner County Daily Bee
Contact:  http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3628
Author: Marlisa Keyes

IDAHO METH PROJECT SEEKS END TO DRUG'S USE

95 Percent Of First-Timers Users Use Again -- And  Again

SANDPOINT -- Not even once is Idaho Meth Project  motto.

The reason: 95 percent of first-time meth users will  use the drug
again and again and again, said project  director Megan Ronk. She
spoke at Thursday's general  Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce meeting
held at Cedar  Hills Church.

"It's time to work together folks to see what we can  do," she
said.

The campaign needs to be conducted by employers, people  in churches
and wherever people gather.

The goal of campaign, which kicked off in January, is  to keep people
from using meth. The campaign focuses on  the group most susceptible
to meth use, those ages 12  to 24.

That is not to say that people cannot and have not  kicked the drug,
but it is difficult.

"It is a tough road, folks," Ronk said.

Methamphetamine produces a dopamine level of 1350 in  the human body,
while the average person's dopamine  level is 100 with the user
constantly seeking a  comparable high.

"This high is so high," she said.

For those who use the toxic brew, however, it causes  all kinds of
problems, both social and physical. Skin  lesions and extreme cases of
tooth decay are just some  of its manifestations.

Many people who use meth end up in jail or prison  either because of
drug-related convictions or stealing  to get money for more drugs.

It destroys families. Children become wards of the  court and some are
adopted.

Methamphetamine use also does far worse, said Debbie  Field, who also
agreed to speak at Thursday's meeting.

"I know that meth use has ruined my family," said  Field, a mother of
three.

Although she has tried other drugs, Field said she has  never used
meth. She knows its affect on families.

It is the first time Field has shared her story with  anyone but close
family mebers.

When she was 8, Field was placed in foster care with a  loving family.
When she was 17, she went in search of  her family and discovered a
mother, brother and younger  sister who were hooked on drugs -- who
all had  Hepatitis C because of sharing contaminated needles to  do
drugs.

Her brother is serving a life-term in prison as a  result of being
high on meth. He tried to rob some  people in a bar one night and
pistol whipped a man who  tried to intervene. The next day he tried
the same  thing at a different bar. That same man again tried to
intervene and Field's brother shot and killed the man.

Her sister died a year ago, and although the cause was  not drugs,
Fields believes her drug use contributed to  her death.

The Idaho Meth Project is a nonprofit organization that  relies on
donations to keep it afloat.

It is designed after the Montana Meth Project funded  with a $20
million donation by billionaire businessman  and rancher Tom Siebel.
When that project kicked off in  2005, Montana was fifth in the nation
among states for  meth use and has since dropped to 39th, Ronk said.

Idaho has not fared so well. It now is fifth in the  nation among
states for meth use.

"We've got to drive it out of the state," she said.

Although you personally may not know someone with a  meth problem,
every person in the state is affected by  it -- whether employers who
have employees who miss  work or quit altogether or in the cost to the
state,  Ronk said.
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MAP posted-by: Derek