ACTIVIST: DRUG FREE WORKPLACES WILL HELP FIGHT METH USE

Keeping Kids Off Meth Starts With Adults, Milton Creagh Says

Nicole Gibbs, an elementary school counselor in the Middleton School
District, has a third-grade student who doesn't yet know how to read
but can describe the steps to make methamphetamine.

Gibbs said she believes drug problems, which are typically associated
with inner cities, are steadily spreading to rural areas like
Middleton that lack resources for enforcement and treatment.

"People who say, `It's not in my community' have got their eyes
closed," Gibbs said.

The Meridian School District's services building filled with similarly
heart-rending stories Tuesday morning as 250 community and business
leaders gathered to hear ideas about what they can do to help rid
Idaho of drug abuse =AD methamphetamine use in particular.

The clear message delivered by keynote speaker and anti-drug activist
Milton Creagh, visiting the Treasure Valley for what has been dubbed
March Against Meth week, was that businesses with firm drug-free
workplace policies will motivate workers to steer clear of drugs or to
seek treatment for addiction.

While most anti-drug efforts focus on preventing kids and teens from
using, Creagh said the majority of users in the U.S. are adults =AD
and that children can end up modeling their behavior after them.

"Stop beating up the kids =AD it's not the kids," Creagh said. "If you
want to help the kids, first you have to fix the adults."

Creagh also appealed to Meridian's focus on families, saying drug
abuse "cuts to the core of family."

Even family pets that come from methamphetamine households have meth
in their systems when admitted to the Idaho Humane Society because
their owners smoked so much, Creagh said, asking the crowd to reflect
what that meant for children growing up in those homes.

The bottom line, he said, was that the Treasure Valley and other
communities struggling with drug abuse need to support abusers and
break the cycle by providing viable treatment options.

Meridian Mayor Tammy de Weerd pledged Meridian's support toward that
end, vowing that Creagh's visit would have a lasting impact on the
community.

"We need to get past that stigma that people in recovery are bad," de
Weerd said. "They're not. They're people who are hurting."

Drug Free Idaho recognized business leaders Jerry Frank of Petra
construction and Steve Sedlacek and Doug Mason of Sanitary Services
Co. as setting an example to follow of drug testing all employees.

"This is a no-brainer," Frank told the crowd, encouraging other
business owners to adopt similar policies. "Your busi-ness will be
better off =AD bottom line."