Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2005
Source: Star-News (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Wilmington Morning Star
Contact:  http://www.wilmingtonstar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500
Author: Martha Irvine, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

RURAL METH ISSUE MOVES INTO CITIES

More Women, Teens Seek Rehab

CHICAGO - Already known as a rural scourge, methamphetamine is
becoming a problem in a number of U.S. cities.

Meetings of the 12-step group Crystal Meth Anonymous have increased in
Chicago from one night a week a few years ago to five a week. In the
Atlanta area, methamphetamine users account for the fastest-growing
segment of addicts seeking treatment. Rehabilitation centers there are
seeing an uptick in the number of female meth addicts, while officials
in Minneapolis-St. Paul say they're treating an alarming number of
meth users younger than 18.

"Most people just think it happens in the farmlands and the prairies
or out back behind the barn," says Carol Falkowski, director of
research communications at the Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota. But
that's not the case anymore.

Ms. Falkowski found that meth addicts now represent about 10 percent
of patients admitted to drug treatment programs in the Twin Cities,
compared with 7.5 percent a year ago and about 3 percent in 1998.
About a fifth of those meth users who sought help in the past year
were minors.

She and other experts who track urban drug trends for the National
Institute on Drug Abuse are meeting this week in Long Beach, Calif.,
to present their findings. Some have noted a big jump in the use of
meth - particularly in its potent crystal form - in the past six
months to a year.

"It's the new major drug threat," says Jim Hall, director of the
Center for the Study and Prevention of Substance Abuse at Nova
Southeastern University in Florida. He monitors drug use for NIDA in
Fort Lauderdale and Miami, where crystal meth is often more sought
after than Ecstasy and cocaine.

"Here, it's almost like the early days of cocaine, when cocaine was
the chic, expensive champagne of street drugs," says Mr. Hall, noting
that many users come to Miami's South Beach strip in search of the
purest, most expensive meth.

Methamphetamine - long a problem on the West Coast - made its way
across the country in the past decade, often taking hold in rural
areas, where it's usually made because the process creates a
noticeable stench. Increasingly, drug enforcement officials say mass
quantities are also being shipped cross-country from "super labs" in
the Southwest and Mexico.

Experts say the drug started to catch on in urban areas in the club
and rave scenes and sometimes among particular populations, such as
gay men. That's been the case in such cities as Washington, D.C., and
Chicago, says Thomas Lyons, a research associate with the Great Cities
Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Often, he says,
meth use has been associated with increases in sexually transmitted
diseases, including HIV.

One recovering addict who helps organize Chicago's Crystal Meth
Anonymous meetings confirms that the gatherings are frequented by gay
men - but he says that, increasingly, he's seeing people from other
backgrounds.

"It's become more common that I cross paths with people who say, 'This
is my drug of choice,' " says Mike, a 34-year-old former meth user
whose organization does not reveal last names to protect privacy.

Experts elsewhere say their populations of meth users are
diversifying, too.

Claire Sterk, an Emory University professor who tracks Atlanta's
numbers for NIDA, says that while meth users there have traditionally
been white, there are early signs that meth is making its way into the
city's black and Hispanic communities. Experts in other cities also
have noted that some young women are using methamphetamine as a way to
lose weight.

"It's definitely everywhere," says Adam, a 26-year-old former meth
addict from suburban St. Louis who asked that his last name not be
used out of fear of embarrassing his family.

"Though I'm not using anymore, I'm sure it would only take me three
phone calls to find it," says Adam, who works in the retirement
benefits industry and is getting a business degree.

He also speaks on behalf of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America,
which launched education campaigns in St. Louis and Phoenix last year
to try to combat growing meth problems there. The nonprofit plans
similar campaigns in at least four other states in the next year, says
a spokesman.

"It's the drug that makes me cringe the most," says Dr. Rob Garofalo
at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

It's highly addictive, Dr. Garofalo says. "You can't just dabble in
crystal meth."

AT A GLANCE THE TREND: Experts who track drug abuse say
methamphetamine, already a problem in many rural areas, is replacing
Ecstasy and even cocaine as a drug of choice in some urban areas.

THE CITIES: Atlanta is seeing an uptick in female meth addicts seeking
help from rehabilitation clinics. An expert in Minneapolis-St. Paul
says facilities there are seeing an alarming number of teens abusing
meth. And in cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., meth is
popular among gay men who use drugs.

THE EFFECT: Users are attracted to meth because it has a long-lasting effect
and helps them concentrate and feel in control. Doctors, however, say meth
is highly addictive and that, over time, users become aggressive and
paranoid.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin