METH'S 'HOLD' ON COUNTY MUST BE BROKEN -- NOW!

Dreams are shattered. Families are ripped apart.

Jobs are lost.

And lives are turned inside out and upside down, sometimes never to be
made right again.

That's what happens when someone gets involved in the world of
methamphetamine, also known as crank and crystal.

The Kansan has run the first two parts of a series on methamphetamine
the past two Saturdays. The final installment runs this weekend.

Some readers might wonder why the little ol' Newton Kansan is focusing
on methamphetamine. Drugs aren't a big problem here, are they? And isn't
marijuana still the illegal drug of choice?

The answer to those questions is simple: while marijuana still is likely
the most abused drug in Newton and Harvey County (besides alcohol, of
course), meth is far more dangerous. Meth often proves addictive on
first use. And it takes over the lives of users; it becomes their sole
reason for existence.

One other reason is that Kansas ranks third in the nation in meth
production behind California and Missouri.

Police and sheriff's investigators see the rising abuse of
methamphetamine as a serious problem. The drug task force discovered 75
"dump sites" last year in Harvey County. They raided eight operational
labs and made 10 arrests, a 100 percent increase over 1999.

In Harvey and surrounding counties, 61 patients were admitted for
treatment of methamphetamine addiction in 2000.

Of course, with increasing methamphetamine abuse comes the danger of an
increase in other crimes, including theft and assault.

Anhydrous ammonia, a popular crop fertilizer that is injected into the
soil, is a common target of theft for methamphetamine cookers, who
believe they can steal a few gallons out of those huge applicators
without being noticed.

Then, once users are hooked, they often have to turn to stealing to
support the habit.

Interestingly, most of the ingredients for the drug can come right off
store shelves: lye, Freon, camp stove fuel, denatured alcohol, iodine
and Heet, among others.

Just how bad is meth?

Harvey County Attorney Matt Treaster says it's "wicked ... wicked
stuff."

And while the drug task force has made progress, Sgt. Curtis Nightingale
of the Newton Police Department says investigators know they've just
scratched the surface.

Reporter Barry Owens and Managing Editor Chris Strunk have given us an
up close and personal look at who makes meth, who uses it and why it is
dangerous.

While the typical users are in their 30s and often are white and
economically disadvantaged, parents would be well-advised to be on the
lookout for the signs of methamphetamine abuse by their children.

The signs include rotting teeth, lesions on the skin and twitching,
flailing and jerking motions for no particular reason and isolation from
former friends and activities.

Meth is dangerous.

It is here already.

Let's do our jobs as citizens to tip off law enforcement if we see any
strange activity, especially in rural areas where most of the meth
cooking operations are usually discovered.

As a community, we can do our part to wipe out this scourge before it
gets worse.