Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jan 2003
Source: Idaho State Journal (ID)
Copyright: 2003 Idaho State Journal
Contact:  http://www.journalnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/936
Author: John O'Connell, Journal Writer

METH EXPERT REVEALS THE DANGERS DRUG POSES TO CHILDREN

Wells Lauds Local Police, Children's Advocates

POCATELLO -- A 4-year-old Colorado boy named Romeo couldn't count to 10. 
When asked by police, he drew accurate pictures of a complete 
methamphetamine laboratory.

When a California baby named Shaquile wouldn't stop crying, his mother 
admitted to putting methamphetamine in his bottle to calm him down.

In the home of another California infant named Sarah, police found a 
half-pound of methamphetamine on the floor by where she slept. Her home had 
no running water or gas and was cluttered with drug paraphernalia and dirty 
diapers. Most all of the food in the refrigerator was rotten.

Dr. Kathryn Wells, cofounder of the Colorado Alliance for Endangered 
Children, was there when authorities uncovered the children's appalling 
living conditions. The Denver pediatrician showed slides of the homes 
Friday during a lecture to local child protection and development 
professionals.

Wells said between 35 and 50 percent of children living in methamphetamine 
laboratories test positive foJournal photos by Bill Schaefer - Jody Irwin, 
Tricia Codding and Carrie Archibald, from left, of the Southeast District 
Health Department watch the slide-show presentation. r the drug because of 
environmental exposure, and states should toughen child abuse laws for 
their parents.

"I think we think of these parents as being like our parents were, and we 
say, 'Oh my God. We're taking these kids away from these caring, loving 
parents,'" Wells said. "These kids are vulnerable and voiceless, and we 
need to be their voices, and we need to speak out for them."

During her three-hour presentation at Portneuf Medical Center, Wells lauded 
local police and children's advocates for sharing information and 
coordinating efforts to protect drug-exposed children.

Wells, who adKathryn Wells, M.D., of Denver, CO., points to a drawing by a 
four-year old boy named Romeo of a meth lab in his home. vises police 
during raids as part of her organization, suggested social workers should 
measure the heights of tables and other surfaces where drugs, ingredients 
or paraphernalia are found to prove accessibility to children.

She said methamphetamine users often have several children because the drug 
heightens sexuality, and sexual child abuse is more common in homes of 
methamphetamine users.

If mothers continue using methamphetamine while pregnant, their children 
are at risk for premature birth and developmental problems, she said.

"Studies are showing the levels in the baby are even higher than the levels 
in the mom," Wells said.

Children get exposed to methamphetamine in a variety of ways, she said. 
Users often hide drugs and manufacturing equipment in children's 
belongings, where they think police are less apt to look. Drug vapors and 
spilled ingredients contaminate children's clothing.

The food children eat often tests positive for drugs, she said, because 
many methamphetamine manufacturers cool their drugs in freezers or 
refrigerators.

Users have a love affair with methamphetamine and often fail to feed their 
children, especially since methamphetamine suppresses parents' appetites, 
she said. "All they want is the drug," Wells said.

When users take methamphetamine, they get a rush of a pleasurable brain 
chemical called dopamine. After they use the drug for a while, they develop 
a tolerance for it and use methamphetamine again while drugs are still in 
their system and their heart rates are still accelerated, Wells said. She 
said methamphetamine also depletes the body's supply of dopamine, and users 
become sleepy and lethargic until the supply is replenished.

According to Wells, children who live in homes of substance abusers are 
eight times as likely to abuse substances.

"There comes a point where the body can't develop any more dopamine. It may 
relate to why these kids use substances later on," Wells said. "What are 
(drug users) doing to kids' brains who don't mean to be using it and are 
getting it through their environment?"

Methamphetamine users can also develop suicidal, homicidal and delusional 
thoughts. She said the drug also causes extreme paranoia.

"One guy thought his daughter's guinea pig was spying on him for the 
government and dissected it," Wells said. Wells said mental problems 
sometimes persist for years after a user stops taking methamphetamine.

"It's not just one group of people who are using it," Wells said. "It 
crosses all socioeconomic backgrounds."
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