Pubdate: Wed, 28 Apr 2010
Source: MidWeek (HI)
Copyright: 2010 RFD Publications, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.midweek.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/880
Author: Yu Shing Ting

MAKING THE DANGERS OF METH VIVID TO KIDS

Not even once - that's the goal of the Hawaii Meth Project, a 
nonprofit organization committed to preventing first-time meth use 
through community out-reach and education.

The organization launched last June with the help of a single private 
donor and is continuing to operate through fundraisers and donations. 
It's headed by Cindy Adams, who has a staff of one program manager 
and relies on hundreds of volunteers throughout the state.

It's also the organization responsible for bringing to Hawaii those 
dramatic national TV commercials depicting the life of meth users, 
such as the young man who watches himself run into a laundromat and 
rob the folks there of money, a girl who lies to her parents about 
sleeping over at a friend's house and then sees herself in the 
bathtub all beat up, and then there's the girl who follows in her 
older sister's footsteps of trying meth "just once."

"I've had parents with little kids tell me that these ads are way too 
scary, and I say it's really hard to reach out to our intended 
audience solely (which is teenagers age 12 to 17 and secondarily 
young adults age 18 to 24)," says Adams, a 1975 graduate of Kohala 
High School. "We know that their prime viewing time is 7 p.m. to 
midnight, so that's where we buy our time to show these ads. It's a 
phenomenal opportunity for parents to sit down with their kids at any 
age and start having the conversation with them about not using drugs.

"It's a different conversation for a 5-year-old than it is for 
someone who is 12. It's very black and white, yes or no, good or bad, 
and all they have to say is that 'what this means is doing drugs is 
bad, so mom does-n't want you to do drugs.' And as they get older, 
you have a more refined and complex conversation with them."

The Hawaii Meth Project also produces 60-second radio ads featuring 
real stories from local teenagers and young adults who are either 
incarcerated or in rehabilitation for meth addiction.

According to the 2009 HIDTA Drug Market Analysis published by the 
U.S. Department of Justice, Hawaii has one of the largest ice 
methampheta-mine user populations per capita in the nation. 
Additionally, a 2007 national survey on drug use and health reveals 
that Hawaii ranks No. 5 in the nation for meth use by people age 12 and older.

As part of its outreach, Adams visits schools, public and private, 
every week to give presentations about meth use. She recently spoke 
to students of Castle Performing Arts Center's Castle DanceForce, who 
are incorporating teen meth or "ice" use in one of their spring dance 
concert scenes.

The concert, titled Dear Diary, is dedicated to raising awareness of 
teenage depression, including causes of and ways to prevent depression.

The scene will feature the Hawaii Meth Project's campaign slogan "Not 
Even Once" and demonstrate the dangers of crystal methamphetamine and 
the devastating effects of this drug, especially on teens.

Performance dates are April 30 and May 1 at 7:30 p.m. and May 2 at 3 
p.m. at Castle High School. For more information, go to 
www.showtix4u.com or call 233-5626.

"One of the things we know that is very effective is peer outreach," 
says Adams. "Kids are more interested in hearing something from a kid 
than they are from an adult, and this partnership with CPAC is an 
opportunity to work with a group that does theater, which is one way 
to communicate with their peers."

To help the students really understand the negative impact of meth 
addiction, they also got the opportunity to meet with Joe Lewis, a 
recovered meth addict who volunteers with Hawaii Meth Project.

Lewis, whose parents were meth users, started using meth when he was 
14. By age 17 he was in jail with 17 felonies on his record and a 
15-year-old girlfriend who just gave birth to his son.

"I was raised by my grandparents and I knew that drugs would lead you 
down the wrong path," says Lewis. "So for the longest time I didn't 
do it, but what happened was when I was 14 I wanted a relationship 
with my parents and I started to go around them more. My dad started 
to get caught up with my friends, selling them drugs and hanging out with them.

"After school, I would see my dad's truck in front of the school and 
my friends would jump in the bed of his truck and they would drive 
off without me because I wasn't involved with doing the drug at the 
time, so I felt like I needed to do it to fit in."

Eventually that first hit led to a $400 to $500 a day addiction. 
Lewis admits to robbing people to support his habit and says the drug 
caused his weight to plummet from 180 pounds to 110 pounds and his 
personal hygiene deteriorated.

"The ads you see are accurate," he says. "My son was born when his 
mom and I were actively using it. He has ADHD, which is common with 
drug babies, so he is ultimately living with some of the consequences 
from the poor decisions I've made. We also have a daughter who was 
born when we were both clean and you can see a clear difference 
between the two.

"He's an innocent child and I know this is happening every day to 
innocent children, and that's why I felt I needed to help Cindy and 
the Hawaii Meth Project."

For Lewis, it was the realization that he had nothing going for him 
except jail time and the thought of not being there for his son that 
made him want to get clean. Fortunately, he was given the opportunity 
to enter the Hawaii Drug Court Program, which he credits for helping 
him in turning his life around.

Now, 26, he has been clean and sober ever since. He also works, 
attends the University of Hawaii-West Oahu where he's studying public 
administration and is raising two children as a single father.

"I honestly believe the Hawaii Meth Project is perhaps the best type 
of deterrent that there is available to high school students who are 
every day falling victim to ice," says Lewis.

At her school presentations, Adams discusses the meth problem in 
Hawaii, what the drug does to the body, what it does to the brain, 
how toxic the process is to create it, what the drug looks like, the 
radio and TV ads and how difficult it is to get off this drug. She 
says the reason it's so addictive is because of the dopamine that the 
drug releases.

"It's incomparable to other drugs like heroine or cocaine," she says. 
"There are a number of things you can do that release dopamine. 
Eating, hanging out with your friends and having a good time with 
your family release dopamine, and it's the actual processing of the 
dopamine that causes this happy feeling.

"And the example I give kids is, if I were to withhold food from you 
and you got really hungry and then I gave you food and water, your 
brain would release about 200 units of dopamine. If I gave you 
cocaine, your brain would release 300 to 350 units of dopamine. If 
someone was to give you crystal meth, your brain would release 1,000 
to 1,200 units of dopamine, so it is significantly higher.

"So, when people say they've never felt anything like how ice makes 
them feel, what they're talking about is this tremendous release of 
dopamine that makes them feel like Superman - a tremendous amount of 
strength, energy and a feeling of euphoria."

Meth use also can lead to hypertension, high blood pressure, heart 
disease, lung disease, meth mouth (rotten teeth and gum disease), 
paranoia, anxiety, depression, volatile behavior and hallucinations.

"We have high expectations for the success of the program because of 
what we've seen in Montana (the first state to launch the Meth 
Project)," says Adams. "In Montana, we've seen, since 2005, a 63 
percent reduction in teen meth use, a 72 percent reduction in 
workforce meth use and a 62 percent reduction in meth-related crimes."

Hawaii Meth Project is always looking for more volunteers and donations.

For more information, visit www.hawaiimethproject.org .
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart