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WRIGHT COUNTY METH PROGRAM GETS STATEWIDE, NATIONWIDE ATTENTION

Wright County Commissioner Karla Heeter didn't have a county board meeting to attend Nov.  1 - it was cancelled due to five Tuesdays in the month of November.  But Heeter could use the break, since she attended five county board meetings in October - four in Buffalo and one in South Florida.

Heeter represented the MEADA ( Meth Education and Drug Awareness ) Coalition of Wright County at an Oct.  17 meeting before the Orange County Meth Task Force, the latest body to seek out the help of Wright County to get its own awareness program off and running.  Heeter said being at the meeting was a honor, since Wright County's program - only two years old itself - is being viewed as a standard-bearer throughout the state and the country.

"I was surprised and proud," Heeter said of the invitation, which was set up by a former Monticello resident in Florida who had heard of the county's program.  "It's gratifying to know that people as far away as Florida have heard of our work.  The day was amazing.  I put out the things we use to promote our program and increase awareness - T-shirts, water bottles, pens, bags.  They were in awe of how many different ways we were working to get the word out and what we've been able to accomplish in less than two years."

The MEADA program in Wright County has been a collaborative effort that has focused on one simple premise - lives are ruined and altered forever by the ills of methamphetamine use.  While drugs like crack and cocaine have been viewed largely as urban drugs found in bigger cities, meth has taken on a life of its own as a drug that has begun in the rural heartland of America and is making its way to the larger urban centers.

"It's a strange phenomenon," Wright County Sheriff Gary Miller said.  "Because the ingredients are easy to come by, it doesn't take much to be able to produce meth.  Because of that, all of us have a meth problem.  You may have never used meth or even heard of it, but if somebody strung out on meth for three days falls asleep at the wheel and runs into your car, then you have a meth problem.  If a meth user needs money to buy more and breaks into your house, then you have a meth problem."

The decline in health of meth users hasn't seemed to make much of a difference.  In a recent speech to a methamphetamine awareness conference in St.  Cloud Nov.  2, Heeter told the meeting that of the prisoners currently in the Wright County Jail, between 70% and 90% of them have some involvement with the meth trade, adding that they're the reason Wright County is in the process of building a new jail.

When the program first began, like many others like it, there was enthusiasm and a willingness to work.  But, often times, that energy doesn't sustain itself and tends to fizzle out.  Heeter said just the opposite has happened with the MEADA group.  If anything, it's getting stronger.

"We have been off the charts as far as momentum goes," Heeter said.  "We've been able to keep building on the program.  The most difficult part wasn't starting the program up, it has been maintaining that initial momentum.  It's easy to come out of the chute fast.  Maintaining it takes work."

On her Florida trip, Heeter brought all of the start-up materials Wright County had - posters, brochures, public service announcements, press releases, CDs and DVDs.  There isn't a sense of taking credit for the program among the Wright County volunteers that have made their program a success.  Instead, they are willing to share the information with whomever is interested - be it a governmental group or a private company looking to educate its employees - to know what a meth user looks like, what a meth lab looks and smells like and what signs you can pick up in case a friend or loved one becomes a meth abuser.

Heeter said that in a one-week period in October in Wright County alone, three children turned in their parents to social service employees for being methamphetamine addicts.  While the MEADA group and the many private and public organizations that have banded with them have made a dent in the meth numbers - a reduction in meth labs is the most telltale statistic they can use - awareness is the key, according to Heeter, who summed up the MEADA effort with an analogy.

"Meth is like having dandelions in your yard," Heeter said.  "We can treat it, but they won't go away.  We have to continue to work overtime to make sure they don't take over the entire lawn."

Some MEADA events scheduled in the next couple of weeks include a public meeting in Cokato at 7 p.m.  Monday, Nov.  14, and a weeklong program Nov.  14 to 18 at Buffalo High School.  For more information on the program, how to get speakers to come to make a presentation to private groups or civic groups or to offer help to join in the fight, people are urged to check out the MEADA Web site at www.meada.org or to call the information resource hotline at 763-682-7713.

While the MEADA group has made strides much bigger than even the founding members could have anticipated, their work is far from over as long as meth continues to dig its ugly claw into the lives of both adults and children.

"If you hear the stories in this county that we hear every week, you would understand why so many of us are so passionate about it," Heeter said.  "We're going to use every vehicle at our disposal to keep getting the word out.  We have to keep taking care of our dandelions close to home."