Pubdate: Mon, 03 Apr 2000 Source: Tulsa World (OK) Copyright: 2000 World Publishing Co. Contact: P.O. Box 1770, Tulsa, OK 74102 Website: http://www.tulsaworld.com/ Author: S.E. Ruckman, staff writer Bookmark: MAP's link to Oklahoma articles is: http://www.mapinc.org/states/ok MANY USERS ARE LOOKING FOR TREATMENT Cheryl R. of Tulsa knows the grip methamphetamine can have on an addict: "I could do anything when I was on the drug, things I couldn't normally do. "It was my hero." Having been used off and on for 10 years and heavily for two years, the crystalline drug had taken its toll. When she arrived in treatment, she had been sleepless for three weeks and scarcely knew who her son was. "When I came into treatment, I was knocking on death's door," said Cheryl, 30. Her story is like those of many in the area who are coming into treatment for meth use in unprecedented numbers, according to local substance abuse centers. Dr. Art Williams, the director of Metropolitan Counseling Services Detox Facility, said his center had seen an increase significant enough to expand its services. "They are calling me night and day and day and night. I mean people are on the phone all the time about getting help for this drug," he said. "You need specialized services to treat a specialized problem." Area treatment centers should re-evaluate their treatment process to deal with the overload, he said. By cases, the counseling treatment center's north Tulsa location has seen 225 patients for methamphetamine detoxification in seven months and 360 with a diagnosis of methamphetamine addiction, Williams said. He estimates the figures of those who need treatment but haven't sought it might be three times the numbers from his center. His figures reflect an 80 percent increase for the clinic in patients who seek help for meth use. More hours, more staff and more money are needed to control the influx. "As we get more involved we are discovering the ramifications of people using the drug," Williams said. "We are trying to address the needs of Tulsa County because it's out there and it's growing." Williams, who has been in substance abuse counseling for 20 years, said that what he is seeing is the same type of phenomenon that happened in the late 1980s, when cocaine usage gave way to crack cocaine. He sees meth drawing middle-class and teenage users, primarily white. Because the drug is relatively inexpensive to produce and purchase, traditional ideas of who can be addicted have to be re-evaluated, he said. Other area detox centers said they have also seen an increase in meth users who seek help. June Ross, the executive director of Twelve by Twelve, said 90 percent of the participants in its residential treatment program are meth users. But her clients are not picking up the telephone to seek help. "What we're seeing is people who are not voluntarily coming in," Ross said. "They come as a result of meth lab busts and they want to minimize their legal problems." The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation expects to uncover 900 labs this year, compared with 781 a year ago and 269 two years ago. As meth-related arrests go up, Ross expects her numbers to rise. She said the physical and psychological pull of the drug makes most addicts unable to realize they have a problem. They remain caught in the addiction unless they are arrested and forced into treatment. Still, when meth users do seek help they bring in a myriad of health problems that include abscessed teeth, body sores, rashes and the extreme mental dependence on the drug. Unfortunately, the mental dependence is the strongest to kick, Ross said. To her, the increase in meth lab arrests is inadvertently saving lives. "From what we've seen, without meth lab busts, these people are going to die," she said. "Because meth usage is a merry-go-round with no place to get off." S.E. Ruckman, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8462 or via e-mail at --- MAP posted-by: Eric Ernst