Pubdate: Mon, 30 Jan 2006
Source: Sampson Independent, The (NC)
Copyright: 2006, The Sampson Independent
Contact:  http://www.clintonnc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1704
Author: Chris Berendt

METH ABUSER: GETTING CLEAN A DAILY BATTLE

Jim Godwin, a recovering methamphetamine addict, speaks about his 
experiences to a crowd gathered for the methamphetamine summit held 
in Clinton earlier this week. CLINTON -- The fight against the 
highly-addictive drug methamphetamine is a tough battle, but one that 
can be won -- and Jim Godwin is a clear example of that. A meth 
abuser, it took Godwin losing his job and nearly his family to find 
his way back, but he did.

Godwin said that he loved his job and, when he started to do meth, 
went gradually from a dependable worker who enjoyed coming to work to 
a man that was frequently late to his job, if he showed up at all.

"This drug, one thing it will do, is pull you away from all reality," 
said Godwin. "In four or five years, I went from doing pretty good to 
being fired."

Godwin's family reached out to him about the changes they saw in him, 
but their concerns fell on deaf ears.

"I heard them, but it just didn't register," Godwin said to those in 
attendance at a meth summit in Clinton last Wednesday. Godwin, a 
father of two, said that he found that his actions affected his 
family, and even those beyond the walls of his home. "It wasn't just 
me and my family, but the people around me."

They noticed a transformation, he said. The man who used to always 
have a smile on his face no longer took joy in life and isolated 
himself from the people with whom he used to go out of his way to spend time.

He no longer took pleasure in reading with his children or spending 
time with his family, he said. "You don't enjoy things anymore," he said.

That is because methamphetamine takes that away, said L. Worth 
Bolton, clinical instructor for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social 
Work. Bolton said that meth brings on anhedonia, the inability to 
gain pleasure from experiences that are normally pleasurable.

Meth affects the brain's production of dopamine by making it unable 
to produce the "feel good" neurotransmitter. For example, the good 
feelings of a mission accomplished, a goal attained, or the simple 
pleasure gained from such things as enjoyable hobbies or interactions 
with friends and family all rely on dopamine transmission.

Meth strips the brain of its ability to produce dopamine and a person 
needs the drug in order to get that "high" to recreate the feeling 
brought on by the neurotransmitter.

"Take it from someone who has been there," said Godwin, "It'll take 
you from being a great person to being a person that's dull and not 
soaking up the pleasures of life."

Through the Division of Social Services and Eastpointe, Godwin was 
able to receive help he said was invaluable in his continuing effort 
to reclaim the life he once had. In addition, he said, "I got myself 
in church and got away from the crowd I used to run with."

The healing process takes time, but, as Godwin attested to, "It could be done."

Bolton warned that, with methamphetamine, it does not matter whether 
a user has a tendency to become addicted as it might with nicotine or alcohol.

"You get on methamphetamine for a week, you will be addicted," Bolton 
said. "The jury is clear on that."

"It is the most addictive drug we know about," said Jason Greillner, 
a narcotics detective in Missouri and key guest speaker at the summit.

Treatment of drug dependencies that are not meth-related average 
around 12 to 18 months, Greillner said. Meth addicts often take twice 
the time -- 24 to 36 months -- to complete treatment, he said.

Users of meth can recover just the same, it just takes more time, he 
said. "It takes longer to get them to that point," Greillner said.

Enforcement and rehabilitation need to go hand in hand for progress 
to be made, Greillner said.

"If you send an addict to jail, you will get an addict out of jail," 
Greillner said. "If they're coming out the same criminal as you put 
in, you're not doing any good."

Greillner said that he lost a law enforcement partner, who became too 
frustrated upon seeing the same people at lab after lab. They would 
get locked up and be right back out making the drug again.

In Missouri, he said, "There is no place to put them."

Sampson County and the state of North Carolina is facing the same 
dilemma, said J.W. Simmons, who worked to spearhead the Sampson 
County Methamphetamine Task Force. He said that prevention and 
intervention for drug users has to take place or the cycle will continue.

"We have a serious problem in this county and it only seems to be 
growing," said Simmons. "The old approach is not working. We can't 
incarcerate but so many people. We have to attack it on the other end."

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper said that, although a law 
restricting the key ingredient in meth's manufacture is in effect and 
will likely significantly decrease the number of labs in the state, 
that does not mean that meth addicts will not need their drug fix.

With the decrease in homemade meth labs, there will likely come an 
increase in meth trafficking in the state. Cooper said that task 
forces, including county, state and federal authorities, were being 
assembled to stop such trafficking.

The meth problem as people know is only a small piece of what meth 
activity is actually out there, said Greillner.

One out of every 50 to 75 meth labs is actually found, he said. That 
means, for every one time that a meth manufacturer cooks, there are 
50 to 75 times that "we don't know about," said Greillner.

Meth and its toxic and explosive ingredients could be present 
anywhere, around a school or a day care, maybe even the house next door.

To read more about methamphetamine, such as signs of drug use, tips 
to recognizing meth labs, places where users can receive treatment, 
as well as other links to meth resources, please visit the Sampson 
County Methamphetamine Task Force Web site at www.methdeath.org.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman