TRAINER: METH IS THE ENEMY

A strong, perhaps spiritual force is driving the ongoing battle
against the reappearing drug methamphetamine and its producers.

Armed with experience in highly specialized law enforcement
divisions, Lamar Associates has brought some heavy artillery to the
front line with the Methamphetamine Response and Investigation
Training held at the Great Northern Inn the past three days. The
training has gathered concerned community members, informed service
providers, interested educators and trained tribal police officers in
a united effort to join strength and knowledge together against it's
enemy, methamphetamine.

It is a reinforcement to the Tri- Agency Safe Trails Task Force that
has already been taking the drug head on with 43 arrests in the past
six months according to the force's 2006- 2007 Quarterly Reports for
July through December. The reports also show the alarming truth that
meth has become the drug of choice for north-central Montana, with
over two pounds seized during those months compared to less than a
gram of cocaine and a pound of marijuana. Still more alarming is the
fact that of the 43 arrests, 14 were associated with Native American
Indian Reservations, amounting to approximately one third of the
uncovered drug activity in the sixcounty and two-reservation region
that the task force investigates.

With the hopes of building bridges in Montana's tribal communities,
Lamar Associates have joined Montana's war on meth. According to
Lamar's director of the Training Division, Steven K. Juneau, this
seminar is a tool that taught participants how to promote
collaboration, problem solving and strategic planning. It's ultimate
goal is to aid in the fight of manufacture, sale and distribution of
methamphetamine.

Some of the artillery that was presented at the seminar was the
overview of the drug, signs of use, various drug paraphernalia, how
to spot "Beavis and Butthead" meth lab supplies and the extraction
process. Also held during the training was an introduction to a
strong Intranet database that can be purchased and customized for
coalition efforts with the ability to host as a personalized domain
name on the Web. Designed to assist communities by sharing meth
intelligence data, coalition announcements, links and grant
information, the data base comes equipped with valuable features such
as survey polls, discussion forums and an e-mail manager.

But perhaps the most effective weapon of the presentation was the
message brought by a former drug dealer from one of the native
communities. The woman dealer talked about being busted, convicted,
jailed in federal prison, bitter and yet, with the help of the
Creator, coming to terms with her history.

"I thought my life was over, but I have rebuilt my spirit and come
home to help other people who are in the same predicament that I was
in," the anonymous drug dealer said.

This woman, armed with, courage and strength, now has a drive to help
people involved in drugs and she helps future drug investigations by
answering questions that hold valuable insight into a dealer's secret
life. What this particular dealer discovered about drugs was that
money was the most addictive substance in her life, which is becoming
all too common in poverty stricken communities.

With many individuals now armed with knowledge and a desire to
overcome the devastation of meth before it's too late, the trainer
concluded the general session of the training with these words: "Meth
is not knocking on the door -- it's kicked the door down," Juneau
said. "But there is no doubt in my mind that, together, we can find a solution."