Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jul 2005
Source: Hendersonville Times-News (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Hendersonville Newspaper Corporation
Contact:  http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/793
Author: Harmony Johnson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH TASK FORCE DISCUSSES THE GROWING SCOURGE

Fifteen people committed to raising public awareness of Henderson 
County's methamphetamine problem met for the first time Monday to 
examine ways to educate residents on the drug's impact. In a meeting 
at Appalachian Counseling on Williams Street, the committee, half of 
the newly formed Methamphetamine Task Force, began looking at ways to 
slow the drug's epidemic growth. Talks centered on how to make the 
community aware of the problem, which has skyrocketed in Henderson 
County in the past five years.

In 1999, Sheriff's Department drug detectives investigated six meth 
cases, seizing $3,855 worth of the drug. Last year, they investigated 
122 meth cases and seized $201,722. From January through June of this 
year, detectives already have worked 67 meth cases and seized 
$220,425. The highly addictive stimulant has effects similar to 
cocaine but is cheaper and lasts longer. Made from a combination of 
cold medicine and toxic household chemicals, meth can be "cooked" 
anywhere but usually in rural areas, its ingredients highly flammable 
and costly to clean up. The committee plans to model its efforts 
after those implemented by the Kansas Methamphetamine Prevention 
Project, a statewide task force that saw a decrease in the number of 
meth users after its first year in existence. "There are a lot of 
things already in place that we can take in and modify for our use," 
said Charlene Nicely, committee chairwoman and clinical director of 
Pavilion, a Mill Spring treatment facility. Informational brochures 
and training sessions tailored to different age levels are among the 
measures group members said they would like to implement. Seminars 
would be given to professional, civic and community organizations on 
how to identify meth labs and users. The task force was created in 
May after nearly 50 educators, social workers, counselors, nurses, 
law enforcement officers and business professionals met to discuss 
meth's impact on the area. Last month, the group split into two 
subcommittees. The second group, which will hold its first meeting at 
noon, July 19, in the Mountain Laurel training room off Fleming 
Street, plans to develops policies and protocols for agencies that 
deal with meth users.

Initial publicity about the task force is alerting some people to the 
problem, committee member said.

Debbie Ward, a pharmacist at Eckerd Drugs on U.S. 25 North, said a 
woman recently called her crying, wanting to know if the task force 
could help her daughter, a meth addict.

"Well, we're not that far along yet," Ward told her, and then 
referred the distraught mother to Appalachian Counseling, which plans 
to implement an intensive, meth-specific treatment program next month.
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MAP posted-by: Beth