If you saw employees from Youth and Shelter Services wearing crazy hats today, there's a reason. If you see students walking into Colo-Nesco or Roland-Story elementary schools with clothes on that don't match, there's a reason. And at Ames High School today, there's a reason you could hear members of the Students Against Destructive Decisions reading disparaging facts about people who use drugs over the intercom. CELEBRATING NATIONAL RED RIBBON WEEK, STUDENTS AND YOUTH ADVOCATES across Story County are encouraging others to be drug-free through various and unique methods. [continues 170 words]
Why did you choose to use meth? Cathy: I had a good life. My family loved me. I cannot say that is what it is. I often think of this. I didn't care about fitting in. Editor's note: Cathy and Gary, a married couple living in Boone, are former methamphetamine addicts. In the next three editions of The Tribune they will talk about their addiction, their arrests and their ongoing recovery. They have asked that their last name not be used at the request of their employers. Today, they talk about why and how they used meth. Cathy is 48 and Gary is 44. Together they are raising two girls, ages 16 and 18. [continues 527 words]
This is the third of three installments from Cathy and Gary, a married couple from Boone who are recovering meth addicts. Today, they tell how their lives have changed since their arrest. Cathy is 48 and Gary is 44. Together they are raising two girls, ages 16 and 18. They said their employers requested their last names not be published. Besides being arrested, what made you quit meth? Cathy: I was getting sick of my life. It was nothing but a vicious cycle. We had nothing to show for it. [continues 898 words]
Better long-term treatments needed for meth addicts Methamphetamine addiction crosses all social and economic barriers. To cook it requires only elementary-level chemistry. To buy it requires a handful of money. The Central Iowa Drug Task Force say meth is the most prevalent drug in Story County. Officers have encountered users as young as 12 and as old as 64. According to the 2002 Iowa Youth Survey, 21 high school students in Story County admitted to using meth at least once. [continues 809 words]
The Central Iowa Drug Task Force, based in Story County, says meth is the drug of choice for area drug users, and agents come into contact with the highly addictive drug on a daily basis. The meth problem here is no worse than it is anywhere else, but the community often doesn't realize how bad it is. So why doesn't the Ames Police Department or some narcotics officer march into Michelle Hopkins' trailer park and arrest her? Profiled in Saturday's Tribune, she's an admitted methamphetamine addict. She admitted to using at least within the last two weeks. An arrest might even help put her on the path to recovery and a better life. [continues 947 words]
Woman Has Been Addicted for Nearly 20 Years Since August, Michelle Hopkins says her self-worth is as low as it's ever been. But she hasn't hit bottom. Yet. That scares her the most. And it's not just one thing that brings her down, although everything in her life seems to hang on her nearly two-decade-long addiction to methamphetamine. Hopkins is closing in on her 40th birthday. She's never held a steady job. There were two stints in prison on theft charges. Last March, she was told she'd die from cervical cancer. [continues 1140 words]
Associate Juvenile Judge Victor G. Lathrop says methamphetamine or other drugs are involved in about half of his cases in Story County. Lathrop has been on the bench since 1985. The frequency of meth surfacing in his courtroom has increased in recent years. "When a parent is involved in meth or other drugs, that seems to override the parental interests," he said. "They are usually not able to supervise their child. The use of the drug controls their life to the point where the children are not getting adequate supervision." [continues 163 words]
Editor's note: This is the second of three installments of an interview with Cathy and Gary, a married couple from Boone who are recovering meth addicts. Today, they talk about their arrest and its effect. Cathy is 48 and Gary is 44. Together they are raising two girls, ages 16 and 18. They have asked that their last name not be used at the request of their employers. When did you get caught by police for using meth? Cathy: Sept. 26, 2000, the cops walked in. I understand some things, but sometimes I don't. The cops were kind of crude. I know we are doing illegal things, but they didn't need to be crude to my daughter. They told her I was going away for 25 years. She was hysterical. They had no right to do that. I know I was wrong. They had her scared to death. [continues 483 words]
Truth is the anti-drug, according to those government-funded advertisements our tax dollars pay for on the television. One recent advertisement from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign makes a link between drug use and international terror. But the whole truth is a bit problematic. It's our national addiction to foreign oil, not to drugs, that does the most to bankroll terror. And the questions that poses are not as politically palatable as an anti-drug campaign. [continues 397 words]
In a campaign without much funding, Gail Bolivar is seeking to upset the maxim "that it's never a bad thing to be the most conservative in a Republican primary." He's challenging incumbent Republican Tom Latham in Iowa's new Fourth District. The fourth district winds from the southern side of Des Moines, up through central Iowa and Story County and into the state's far northeastern corner. Bolivar says he's just "doing the things you need to win," visiting people and showing up. [continues 407 words]
The new Story County Jail may soon be offering people more than just time. The Center for Addictions Recovery in Ames is seeking to provide substance abuse treatment for inmates while they are still in jail. "Eighty percent have a drug or alcohol problem," said David Sahr, the retired executive director of the center. The center is applying for a $75,000 Federal grant through the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy. Those funds will be matched with $10,000 from the state and $15,000 from local sources through the ASSET (Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team) process. Sahr is in charge of applying for the grant. [continues 239 words]
Marijuana and chocolate have the same impact on the brain. There's one difference: It takes 25 pounds of chocolate to get to the same high as puffing on a joint. Marijuana and chocolate have the same impact on the brain. There's one difference: It takes 25 pounds of chocolate to get to the same high as puffing on a joint. That was one of the observations at Monday's "Drugs 101" seminar sponsored by Youth and Shelter Services. Stimulants, sedatives, hallucinogens and other drugs - legal and otherwise - - were all discussed. About 50 social workers listened to the presentation given by prevention specialist Denise Denton of YSS. [continues 503 words]
NEVADA - A popular drug prevention program is getting a makeover in most Story County schools. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, more commonly known as D.A.R.E., has been shortened from 17 to eight weeks to make room for more classroom instruction, said Story County Deputy Craig McKinney, the main D.A.R.E. instructor. "We talked to the schools and they were receptive to our proposal of teaching one time a week for eight weeks," McKinney said. "(In the past) giving us all that time took away from other times when they could be teaching something else. It works out for the both of us." [continues 308 words]
NEVADA--Congressman Leonard Boswell told Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald Monday morning he's lobbying for legislation to provide more funding for drug prevention programs and specifically the fight against methamphetamines. "I still see it as the biggest internal threat to our country," Boswell said. Boswell is touring the 27 counties in the 3rd District this week, holding roundtable meetings with law enforcement officials to discuss his Comprehensive Methamphetamine Act bill, which would provide $75 million for local law enforcement agencies to spend on meth programs. [continues 214 words]
AMES--The number of Story County youth who use tobacco, alcohol and other drugs is below state averages. Youth leaders and counselors say the news is good but say there's more work to be done. Youth and Shelter Services Director George Belitsos said whichever way you look at the results, sometimes "the glass is either half empty or half full." Some say the statistics are a reflection of Story County's white-collar population or the local support for prevention programs and the home of the largest youth rehabilitation center in the state, Youth and Shelter Services. Others say the statistics aren't a good indicator of the truth. [continues 563 words]
