METH ADDICTION TREATMENT CALLS FOR SPECIAL TACTICS, EXPERTS SAY

Alex Stalcup has helped people battle addictions to virtually all
types of drugs for 18 years.

But none of these drugs poses a greater challenge to conquer than
methamphetamine, he says.

That's why before meth users can get sober, they need certain things
that other drug users do not, said Stalcup, the medical director of
the New Leaf Treatment Center in Lafayette, Calif., and former
director of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco.

They immediately need anti-psychotic medication to counter the
mood-crashing low that follows the euphoric high.

And they need sleep.

It's not uncommon to see users who have been awake for an entire
month, Stalcup says. They're cranky and aggressive.

"It's very hard to learn when you haven't slept," Stalcup said at a
training session last week in Godfrey for people who work with meth addicts.

Meth chemically alters the brains of users, and its effects linger
even when they stop using the drug.

Most people who enter drug-

treatment centers have stopped using. That's not so with meth
addicts, Stalcup said. Assume that they'll begin using again at least
three times during treatment, he said.

When they do, don't punish or criticize. Ask them what prompted them
to use again.

Stalcup also said prevention efforts should focus on three groups of
people: those whose parents or grandparents were drug users, those
who were sexually abused as children, and people with mental illnesses.

These groups crave a powerful drug that makes them feel good, which
makes meth an attractive choice.

"That's absolutely accurate," said Dennis Fox, director of adult
chemical dependency services for Chestnut Health Systems, a
counseling center with offices in Madison and St. Clair counties.

Fox also agreed with Stalcup that meth addicts need to live in
halfway houses as part of their treatment so they can adjust to life
without drugs instead of going back to a home where drugs were a part of life.

Chestnut staff members are working to develop a new way of treating
meth addicts, Fox said, and therapists there are required to get
specialized meth training.

On Friday, the last day of the meth training meeting in Godfrey,
Illinois State Police officers carried out a search warrant in a
mobile home north of Granite City.

The officers were all members of the Methamphetamine Response Team,
formed in May, which handles only meth-related crimes. Since then,
the team already has done 105 meth busts, said Sgt. Joe Beliveau.

Inside the mobile home they found acetone, peroxide, coffee filters
with no coffeemaker - all are signs of a meth lab, he said.

The cooks in this lab didn't use anhydrous ammonia. Instead, they
used the material on matchbook strike pads, a method used only in
Madison County, Beliveau said.

The officers also found three TVs hooked up to an elaborate system of
surveillance equipment, he said. Meth addicts are extremely paranoid,
Beliveau said.

Many do not eat or sleep, so getting them on a schedule of regular
meals, and of waking and sleeping, is a huge accomplishment.

Said Stalcup: "We know we've made progress when we can get them up in
the mornings."