Science can help stop meth

MONTROSE — Montrose County needs more data and money to stop meth in its tracks, the public learned Monday.

But some of the existing data presented by the Montrose Meth Coalition during a community dialogue program was enough to surprise attendees. Gasps filled the county commissioners’ room when Montrose Police Sgt. Paul Eller said 60 percent of felony cases between 2003 and 2007 were related to methamphetamine.

According to Eller, the stats were worse for Delta County, at 75 percent, and in Mesa County, at 92 percent.

Solid data as to how, specifically, meth impacts various segments of the Montrose community is being actively sought, Eller said.

The Montrose Meth Coalition, which formed last year as a countywide action committee, will soon send out business and residential surveys.

“We want to use science-based practices to ensure we’re doing things that work, that we’re not going to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

Eller told an audience member who asked for specifics that some programs might work well initially, like the Montana Meth Project’s shock-advertising campaign and its graphic depictions of meth addiction. The long-term effectiveness of such programs is debatable, he said, as shock value tends to wear off.

Eller said other pieces of conventional wisdom — that it’s nearly impossible to treat a meth addict; that meth is almost instantly addictive — are not true.

“These are all scare tactics. Children and young adults don’t respond well to scare tactics.”

Addicts who have used for decades have managed to break the cycle and become productive citizens he added.

Science does show meth — made by distilling ephedrine via several volatile chemical processes — affects brain chemistry. Though it enhances feelings of pleasure, over time, it takes more and more of the drug to get the same “fix” and its toxins exact a heavy toll on the body.

Extensive use has been shown to be the equivalent of a traumatic brain injury, Eller said. Some meth addicts have to relearn basic tasks — including how to enjoy life.

“They also lose any ability to enjoy anything without meth,” Chief Probationer Carrol Warner said.

The meth coalition is working to correct the scattershot data collection process that resulted when each law enforcement or treatment agency collected its own without a streamlined means of data-sharing.

It’s been able to determine the median age for meth use dropped by five years between 2006 and 2007, from 29 to 24 — and that some meth users are as young as 12.

Sixty-percent of meth users are Caucasian and most are high school dropouts, Eller said.

Court surveys are ongoing and newly hired part-time coordinator Melanie Roberts is due to interview jail inmates soon.

Determining the direct impact on the community, though, will require the participation of the community, he said, including responses to the forthcoming surveys.

Community engagement could also stand the coalition in better stead for more funding, he added.

“If we don’t stop it today, we’ll have the same problems Mesa County was having,” he said.

The coalition needs $23,500 for its part-time coordinator. Its prevention and awareness committee needs $40,600; the treatment committee needs $32,050 and the drug endangered children committee needs $21,050.

The meth coalition has received a variety of funding from charitable organizations, local government, private individuals and in-kind volunteer work, the value of which Eller estimated at $160,000.

Those who attended the dialogue expressed enthusiasm for spreading the word, and one man suggested the coalition also try advertisements on local movie theater screens.

Montrose resident Pat Lawson said she was “utterly shocked” to learn how prevalent meth was and said her neighbors had “no idea” how they are affected by spin-off crimes associated with meth use.

“This is a community responsibility, not just the police department or sheriff’s office,” Eller added Tuesday. “It does affect everyone.”

The meth coalition meets at 10 a.m. the third Friday of each month at the Health and Human Services building (county south campus, South Townsend). For more information, call Eller at 252-5225.