ILLEGAL DRUG ABUSE COULD END YOUR LIFE

State officials held a press conference in Stratham last week to
talk about the efforts to combat the expansion of methamphetamine
use in New Hampshire.

They said they are at the front line of the battle, "doing
everything possible to get a foothold on meth before it becomes a problem."

On the same day at another press conference just miles away in
Seabrook, it was announced police had made a bust netting the
largest amount of crystal methamphetamine ever seized in New England.

Clearly, this problem is here in our small cities, smaller towns;
right here in our own back yard. It is no longer limited to some
non-specific Midwest geography, nor is it just a problem of some
faceless metropolitan area.

Meth is cheap and relatively easy to make. Its consequences include
myriad health problems from unsafe weight loss, premature aging,
teeth loss, and ultimately death if its abuse is prolonged.

The panel at the Stratham press conference assured Seacoast
residents that local, state and federal officials are working to
stop the abuse of meth before it grows. They called on the need for
educational outreach. At times, calls for "educational outreach" can
be frustrating without the tangible results of arrests, but in this
case, it truly is the best tool we have in fighting drug abuse.

We stress in no uncertain terms that meth is insidious; it will
destroy lives. The same can be said of other hard drugs, and, for
that matter, the abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs will also
inevitably destroy a certain degree of one's life, if not in total.

The state recently trained 300 police officers on how to deal with
meth. Furthermore, the federal government has made it more difficult
to acquire the chemicals used to create the drug. These are indeed
powerful steps, and it is reassuring that proactive measures are
being undertaken.

Ultimately however, we come back to the need for our community as a
whole, and right down to the individual, to stop and consider the
consequences of abusing drugs. Millions of dollars will be spent to
track down, arrest and convict meth dealers. Millions more will be
spent on educational and recovery programs. Still millions more
will be spent to fight dealers of other drugs and to provide that
same educational outreach and recovery programming.

Though rather simple in print, much of our fight does truly come
down to the cliche of "Just say no."

Parents should speak bluntly to their children about the dangers of
drug abuse. There are too many stories of fractured and destroyed
lives to sugarcoat this. That same discussion should be had among
teenagers with their peers and themselves, as well as adults
thinking about the "euphoric" high of drugs like meth.

They will negatively affect your life. They could end it, too.