Pubdate: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) Copyright: 2004 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. Contact: http://www.knoxnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/226 Author: Bill Provey, Associated Press BROTHER'S DEATH SPARKED DOCTOR'S CRUSADE AGAINST METH CHATTANOOGA - Dr. Mary Holley knows firsthand the ravages of methamphetamine. As an obstetrician in Albertville, Ala., she estimates about 10 percent of her pregnant patients are addicted. But the methamphetamine epidemic in Appalachia has now become a personal crusade for Holley. Four years ago, her brother Jim shot and killed himself after a struggle with meth addiction. A photo of her brother appears on the Web site for Mothers Against Methamphetamine, or MAMa, a Christian ministry that Holley founded last year to fight the popular drug. The group already has chapters in Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri and Ohio, and Holley said the Web site, www.mamasite.net, gets about 6,000 hits a month, including about 25 a day from "parents wanting to know what to do with their kid." Mothers Against Meth has worked with churches to start addiction support groups, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. And the MAMa Web site offers pamphlets that detail the dangers of meth. Meth targets the central nervous system. People who use the stimulant tend to hallucinate and become aggressive, in some cases violent. Their children are often neglected or abused. Meth can be cooked using cheap, over-the-counter ingredients such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from cold tablets, red phosphorous from matchbook strike plates and ether from engine starter. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates Tennessee accounts for 75 percent of meth lab seizures in the Southeast. Holley, who is a Christian, believes drug addiction is "primarily a spiritual disease, not a social disease." "They use this drug because it works. It makes them feel better. They have been rejected and humiliated and miserable people all their lives. It just makes everything better. This stuff works." Tennessee is among 14 states picked by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to receive grants for expanded drug abuse treatment. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh