DOCTORS GET WISE TO METH

Seminar Informs Of Physical Warning Signs Of Drug Abuse

Cleaning up one methamphetamine lab costs at least $3,000, Greene County
Sheriff Jack Merritt said Saturday during a local meth conference.

Expenses mount up fast when one considers that 111 meth labs were seized in
the Springfield area last year, he said. Missouri led the nation with more
than 1,000 meth lab seizures in 2003.

But Merritt and dozens of local physicians who attended the seminar at
Ozarks Technical Community College were especially concerned with the
increasingly prevalent drug's physical effects on addicts.

About 80 percent of jail detentions are related to meth use with an
estimated 40 percent of the jail population getting psychological
counseling at any time, the sheriff said.

"There is a dark side to Springfield, to our community and our area that
most of us don't see," Merritt said. "Those of us in law enforcement deal
with it every day, but it's easy to shut that out and not see what's going
on around us."

The Community Partnership of the Ozarks-sponsored seminar sought to change
that by better informing medical professionals about meth's dangers so they
can identify users. Ash Grove physician Jim Blaine called the effort
imperative.

"I think the medical community is just now realizing the breadth and the
scope of the problem and its potential," Blaine said. "It is important to
educate ourselves as well as the rest of the community."

Dr. Mark Carlson, medical director of Cox Center for Addiction, warned that
the death rate is 11 times greater for meth abusers than the general
population — compared to just twice greater for alcoholics.

Chris Davis, CPO prevention services administrator, displayed photos of a
Branson-area meth addict's open sores, one of several signs he said health
providers should look for when identifying abusers.

Some users will scratch their arms because they believe they have bugs
crawling on their skin, he said. Other effects include irritability,
nervousness, insomnia from staying up four to seven days, and elevated
blood pressure, Davis said.

Meth has become more popular among teenagers who mistake it as a "safe
drug," he said. Unlike cocaine, the drug costs only a few dollars and
provides a "high" that can last several hours, Davis said.

Up to 80 percent of children exposed to meth labs test positive for meth,
the CPO administrator said. Long-term health consequences of meth include
cancer and damage to the brain, liver and kidneys, he said.

Davis displayed pictures of meth-making items, such as bottles of drain
cleaner and iodine.

"You may have all of these in your home," he said, "but you don't have 20
of them."