Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

CARSON TURNS TO COMMUNITY FOR HELP IN BATTLING DRUG

During one night in February, detectives from the Carson Special
Enforcement Team discovered nearly 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine
worth almost $70,000 hidden in two shoeboxes at a North Roop Street apartment.

In April, they found 32-year-old Michael Coyner in possession of a
meth lab he'd assembled in the garage of his parents' Diamond Avenue home.

Both busts came through the Meth Hotline, the most visible part of
Partnership Carson City, a grassroots anti-meth coalition seeking a
solution to the drug Carson City officials call "lethal and life-damaging."

The hotline, created in late 2005, has been publicized around the
city with magnets and fliers. But it's just one front in Carson's
complex battle against meth.

"Meth is not a law-enforcement problem," Carson City Sheriff Kenny
Furlong said. "Meth is a community problem. It devastates communities
and it consumes every resource we have."

The coalition formed in July 2005 and involves more than 80 people
who work in committees concentrating on law enforcement, education,
public policy and other issues.

But the community coalition also includes the mayor, the sheriff, the
superintendant of schools and the district attorney to name a few.

"Leadership starts at the top," Furlong said. "Yes, we do have the
mayor involved. Yes, we do have the sheriff involved. You've got to
have the commitment. It doesn't do the least bit of good if he is
committed and I am not."

The coalition is planning to market Partnership Carson City during
the summer, culminating in a celebration Aug. 1 on "National Night Out" day.

"National Night Out" day includes street celebrations, flashlight
walks and other activity promoting crime and drug awareness.

According to an analysis of charges filed in Carson City justice and
municipal courts from April 1, 2004 to April 1, 2006, about 70 new
drug charges are filed each month and more than half of the criminal
cases have drug-related conditions ordered by the court.

Drugs at root of crimes

"The closer we supervise individuals under the court's jurisdiction,
the more we realize that drugs, or methamphetamine, is at the root of
many of these cases," court administrator Matt Fisk said. "The number
of drug charges filed do not represent the overwhelming numbers of
cases that have a drug-related component."

Of 2,696 drug tests ordered in the two-year period, 42 percent were
positive. Almost two out of three were positive for methamphetamine.
About a third of those testing positive for methamphetamine also used
another substance.

Fisk said suspects are interviewed while in jail and are asked about
problems with substance abuse. About 15 percent self-report drug use,
but Fisk said Carson City officials believe 80 percent of their cases
involve drug problems.

"Those aren't really reliable," Fisk said. "They have nothing to gain
by being honest and a lot to lose."

Central to the coalition's plan is community education and teaching
everyone about the dangers and signs of meth abuse.

"What information you give to a group of students is completely
different than what you give to a bunch of Kiwanis members," said
Sarah Hill, chairwoman of the education prevention group and a
business banker for Wells Fargo.

Hill said her goal is to talk to 10,000 Carson residents by 2007.

Hill said she was drawn to the coalition because she worried about
her 17-year-old son.

"If he was using meth, I would have no idea," Hill said. "What I
realized really quickly was that I'm a professional, I'm out in the
community, and if I don't know there has to be a lot of other parents
out there just like me who don't know."

Talks are geared toward business owners, school teachers and coaches;
landlords, hotel and motel operators; employees and the general public.

Teens respond when lectured about the way meth can destroy a person's
appearance, which are usually delivered by Rory Planeta, an
investigator with the Tri-Net Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional unit
that focuses on mid-level dealers in the Carson area.

The coalition also spurred the creation of the Special Enforcement
Team, which targets street dealers and users.

Using the meth hotline

The SET team does not do undercover work and spends nights following
tips through the meth hotline and patrolling the street.

"Our street operation is up front and in-your-face," Furlong said.
"All of this is designed to enhance street patrols. (Drug users) are
desperate people going to desperate ends."

The team is headed by Detective Bill Abbot, a TriNet veteran.

Carson District Attorney Noel Waters sits on the public policy
committee with Partnership Carson City and is helping craft
suggestions to toughen municipal laws related to meth.

"We've had an awful lot of people coming in the revolving door
because of meth," Waters said. "We see them again and again. They're
re-arrested for the same thing and the underlying cause of it all is
this stuff called methamphetamine."

Waters said the group wants to create a digital database to cut off
an income source for drug addicts and thieves.

"One of the side effects is they rip off their friends and other
people," Waters said. "They go out and steal stuff and pawn it."

Municipal code makes it illegal for pawn shops to deal with convicted
thieves, but Waters said the law lacks teeth.

"How do we let the pawn shop know who those druggies and thieves
are?" Waters said. "We need to be able to legally say, 'Here is a
list of everybody who's recently been convicted of drug trafficking or theft.'"

The group also advocates for mandatory state welfare intervention for
children found where drugs are sold or manufactured, which helps
reduce "multi-generational drug users," Waters said.

The last policy proposal seeks to extend city nuisance laws aimed at
loud parties and large gatherings where drugs could be sold.

Furlong said he hopes to see Partnership Carson City become a model
for other small communities around the country.

"There is not a community in this country that does not have the meth
problem," he said.

But it's still too early to measure any success.

"We are getting feedback that more and more people are recognizing
meth is bad for you," Furlong said. "When we get feedback from
businesses, people, you are achieving your successes."