OFFICIALS WORRIED ABOUT POSSIBLE INCREASE IN METH USE

DAYTONA BEACH - A father in New Mexico repeatedly stabs his son and
cuts his head off. A former firefighter in Oklahoma shoots and kills a
trooper and a 1-year-old boy in Georgia dies in a house fire where his
parents were manufacturing methamphetamine.

Local law enforcement and other substance abuse prevention officials
heard these and other examples Friday about a drug making its way into
kitchens in neighborhoods across the United States. It's easy to make,
experts say. It's highly addictive and it's deadly.

"It's not just mom and dad in the kitchen. It's mom and dad and
everybody else. It's lots of people and lots of children," said Abby
Lavelle, a trainer for the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force,
during a session at Daytona Beach Community College.

Lavelle, an adjunct professor for St. Petersburg College, spoke during
a training session during national Red Ribbon Week, which is devoted
to alcohol and drug prevention.

Local law enforcement and drug prevention experts said meth labs are
not as prominent here as in other states, and they hope the drug, also
known as crank, speed or crystal meth, doesn't become as prevalent as
crack cocaine and marijuana.

"It's a growing concern not only because of the quick addiction, but
the environmental issues and health problems," Daytona Beach Police
Chief Dennis Jones said. "It's a very serious problem."

Using products such as cold medicine and paint thinner, the drug is
manufactured in houses, motels and apartments and the toxic chemicals
are being dumped in parks, trash bins and creeks, Lavelle said.

Just last year, drug enforcement agents raided a meth lab in a quiet
neighborhood on the Edgewater-Oak Hill border. Labs also have been
found in Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach and other areas.

"It can be anybody," Lavelle said. "It can be your best friend from
high school or your mother's first cousin."

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, whose district includes parts of
Volusia and Flagler counties, said during a luncheon that drug and
substance abuse are the most serious problems facing society.

"No matter who you are in our society -- an elected official, rich or
poor -- you can be affected by this," said Mica, who has spent about
20 years combatting drugs and serving on national drug policy committees.

Ernest Cantley, president of the Stewart-Marchman Center for Chemical
Independence, said most youth in its prevention programs are there
because they were using marijuana.

"But meth is something we are afraid is going to start here," Cantley
said. "We hope and pray it doesn't."

Leon Bright, Chisholm Center director in DeLand, and president of the
Volusia County MAD DADS, (Men Against Destruction-Defending Against
Drugs and Social Disorder), said his grass-roots group has found drug
pipes, cocaine packages and needles lying on the streets when marching
through a DeLand neighborhood earlier this year.

"You can imagine if your kids walk by and find drugs lying there,"
Bright said. "We're trying to get parents involved and show young
people there is an alternative."