Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jan 2006
Source: Casper Star-Tribune (WY)
Copyright: 2006 Casper Star-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.casperstartribune.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/765
Author: Anthony Lane
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

WOMAN SEES WIDE IMPACT FROM DRUGS

Linda Henderson has a theory about how her daughter's  son ended up in Ohio.

"I think she sold him," said the 53-year-old owner of  the Sage and Sand Motel.

Henderson drove more than 20 hours each way to pick up  the boy and 
later fought to become his guardian. She  seems happy that the 
3-year-old n whose picture hangs  in the motel's office n is now 
safely living with a  relative in Virginia.

Henderson, a Wyoming native, has experienced the  negative effects of 
drugs in both her personal life and  her work. Users have destroyed 
rooms in the motel  despite her efforts to keep drugs away.

And two of her four children have fought drug and  alcohol problems 
with varying degrees of success.  Henderson said her daughter's 
involvement with drugs  led her to lose track of her child, or possibly worse.

"Some people are addicts," Henderson said.

Stuart Harwood, Henderson's oldest child, spoke last  week about his 
history with drugs and alcohol. He said  he was always into 
"partying," a fondness that at first  just meant alcohol.

"I didn't try any of the powder until my junior year,"  the 35-year-old said.

Harwood moved as a teenager to live with his  grandparents in 
Arizona. There, he said, he made  friends with people who used 
cocaine, LSD and a drug  that was called "crystal meth."

Details of the years that followed are difficult to put  together. 
Harwood served time in a federal prison  before returning to Wyoming. 
He married and went to  work in the oil fields.

Despite some tumult and further problems with the law  back then, 
Harwood said, he's clean now.

"I was an alcoholic," Harwood said. "Now, I pretty much  don't drink."

Harwood's sister, who is 10 years younger, has not yet  made the same 
transition. He said she showed him  several years ago the drug that 
now passes for  methamphetamine, which he described by its "glassy 
looking" appearance. He said the drug seems different  than the meth 
he knew when he was a teenager.

"The high wasn't a paranoid-type high," Harwood said.

In addition to his sister, Harwood said, his second  wife also 
developed a need for the drug. At one point  she became convinced 
"glass was coming out of her  face," he said. She scraped her face 
with a knife as  she tried to get rid of the sensation.

Harwood said meth seems disproportionately to affect  women. He's 
seen them become aggressive, violent and  promiscuous. The generation 
of users that includes his  sister, he said, "is messed up."

Henderson said she will work with addicts when they are  recovering. 
But when they are still using, she said,  they seem to be beyond help.

Despite her efforts to keep drugs out of the motel and  her desire to 
see family members recover, Henderson  said, the struggles don't seem 
to relent.

Friday night's wind blew down a power line at the Sage  and Sand 
Motel. Police who showed up afterward told  Henderson that one of her 
guests was known to be a drug  dealer.

The man left. Later, Henderson said she wonders whether  her son -- 
who has been staying at the motel -- will be  able to keep away from 
the chemicals he has relied  upon.

"Once they get involved in drugs, it's very hard for  them to get 
off," Henderson said. "It's just a circle.  Every time you think 
you've got it handled, it's just  another problem."
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