Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jun 2005
Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Copyright: 2005 Athens Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.onlineathens.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535
Author: Merritt Melancon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

MOMS WORK TO SNUFF OUT DANGEROUS DRUG

It has only been two months since Melinda Payne and Janie Fulghum, two 
suburban mothers from Loganville, joined their close friend to search for 
her 17-year-old daughter. Their search for the girl, who had been using 
methamphetamine for more than a year, showed them a side of their community 
that they had never seen before.

Motel rooms used as meth labs and houses filled with people using meth, 
contrasted with the manicured lawns and neatly built single-family homes 
that they saw in their daily lives.

It was a culture shock that made them aware of what was happening around 
their kids, made them aware of what was happening just under their noses. 
And it made them angry.

They were angry that neighborhood convenience stores sold meth pipes out in 
the open, disguised as vases for tiny plastic flowers. They were angry 
there were no affordable treatment programs for their friend's daughter 
once they found her. And most of all, they were angry that Loganville 
seemed to have a pervasive meth problem that officials had either given up 
on or were flat out ignoring, said Fulghum. "Everybody knows we have a 
problem," she said. "It just seems like there wasn't anyone willing to step 
up and do something about it."

So in early May, these two moms decided to take things into their own 
hands. They formed the Loganville-Walton County chapter of Moms Against 
Methamphetamine in early May and have been drumming up support for the 
group ever since.

"What we want to do is educate people in this and other communities about 
what ... to look for, and to talk to their kids about meth on their level," 
Fulghum said.

Before forming the group, neither Fulghum or Payne had ever been to, much 
less spoken up at, a city council meeting. Now they're regular speakers at 
nearly every government meeting and civic club in Walton County.

Rookies or not, MAMa's charter members seem at-home sitting underneath the 
weight of their large, leather-bound planners in MAMa's Loganville office, 
a room that sometimes doubles as Fulghum's living room.

The planners became necessary after a recent flurry of local and 
Atlanta-based news stories gained them invitations to speak everywhere from 
regional panels on domestic violence to a meeting of the membership of the 
Walton Electric Membership Corp.

One date that's in both women's planners is July 12, when they'll hold 
their first public information meeting at 7 p.m. in Loganville High School. 
It will be their first big stab at widespread public education on meth in 
Loganville. They also hope it will garner enough attention that moms in 
other counties will consider starting their own local chapters of MAMa.

But recruiting new members is only the start. The months following MAMa's 
big July 12 meeting will be just as busy as the last two months have been 
for the two women, said Fulghum. In the long-term, MAMa wants to start a 
24-hour help line for people using meth and for those who want to help 
them. The women want to provide free at-home drug tests for parents who 
suspect their children are using meth, and they want to start a fund to 
help pay for recovering meth addicts to go to rehabilitation centers. No 
one should be turned away from rehab because he doesn't have the money, 
said Payne.

People have said that they doubt that two moms can make a dent in the drug 
problem. To them, Fulghum replies with a maxim that's been around as long 
as moms - every little bit helps.

"You can only eat a hamburger one bite at a time," she added. "But sooner 
or later that hamburger is gone."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom