METHAMPHETAMINE CHANGES FACE OF VALLEY DRUG ABUSE

The drugs of choice for the Coachella Valley addict are alcohol,
methamphetamines and heroin -- in that order, according to Riverside County
Department of Mental Health Substance Abuse Program.

"When I was a substance abuse counselor in the late 1970s, the No. 1 drug
back then was alcohol, and heroine was No. 2," said Maria Lozano,
behavioral health supervisor for Riverside County.

"Methamphetamines is really making its presence known in the Coachella Valley."

Methamphetamines is a powerfully addictive stimulant that is sometimes
called "speed," "meth," and "chalk." In its smoked form, the drug is often
called "ice," "crystal," "crank," "fire," and "glass," according to the
National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Use of methamphetamine is popular in counties like Riverside because the
drug tends to be manufactured in remote areas. It's also cheaper to buy and
make than most drugs. It's made with inexpensive over-the-counter
ingredients and can be assembled in make-shift labs.

"Most of the drug arrests in Palm Springs involve some sort of use of
methamphetamines," said Sgt. John Booth of the Palm Springs Police Dept.
"Those arrests fall under three categories: there's under the influence of,
possession of methamphetamines, possession of drug paraphernalia to smoke
or inject methamphetamines."

The problem is so widespread that three narcotics units from other
Coachella Valley cities are based in the Palm Springs Police department.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Office has a special lab unit that focuses
on disassembling methamphetamine labs.

"The first nine months of the year we seized 22 pounds of meth," said Sgt.
Dan Rose, Palm Springs narcotics task force supervisor consisting of local,
state and federal investigators targeting major violators. "That's about
$1.6 million and provides about 100,000 doses," he said.

So far they have seized more methamphetamines than this time last year, he
said.

"We tackle the problem everyday," he said. "We have seven guys in my
department and we could use 50 and still not get a handle on it."

Chip Hayden, 42, of Palm Springs knows how easily meth flows in the valley.
He spent the past decade hooked on speed. He sniffed, snorted, inhaled, and
injected a drug that he describes as easier to buy than alcohol.

"You can sit there with your remote and you can order up speed and get it
delivered," Rose said. "It's very prevalent. It's everywhere."

And it hooks you in, Hayden said.

"It makes you feel like you can do anything," Hayden said. "It's a euphoria
and it's never quite right because you are always chasing the first-time
rush so you keep using."

Many of his friends were experimenting with methamphetamines when he began
using the drug.

"It's a very social drug in the gay community," he said. "I had a good
time. But after awhile the paranoia sets in and you can't hold a job
because you want to do drugs. My health got really bad."

All the money he had left after paying bills went for drugs. He couldn't
stick to any one job.

"It becomes an awful cycle and some of the people are very unsavory," he
said. "It's an awful drug. It gets you high before it kills you."

And Hayden is not alone. An estimated 8.8 million people (4 percent of the
population) have tried methamphetamine at some time in their lives,
according to the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. NHSDA is the
primary source of statistical information on use of illegal drugs across
the nation and has been conducted by the federal government since 1971.

The drug is sending more people to emergency rooms. Methamphetamine-related
episodes increased from 10,400 in 1999 to 13,500 in 2000, which is a 30
percent increase, according to data from the 2000 Drug Abuse Warning
Network, which collects information on drug-related episodes from hospital
emergency departments in 21 metropolitan areas. San Francisco and San Diego
have the most drug related episodes in the country, and Los Angeles falls
in fifth place after Seattle and Phoenix.

Hayden didn't want to end up in the emergency room and finally decided to
quit using 15 months ago when "the bottom came up and hit me." He joined a
12-step program.

"I knew that if I had continued it would have created serious health
problems," he said. "I didn't want to live like that anymore. I just got to
the point where I had to do something with my life."

Rebecca Hyatt, executive director of the Counseling Center in Palm Springs,
has a stack of files for clients who are abusing or recovering from
methamphetamine use.

"We see a lot more speed," she said of her clients' drug of choice.

"Speed is out in our area and it's so bad out here it's amazing. Speed
causes them to become psychotic. Speed is horrible. So many of these people
are not functional."

Some of the people she has witnessed get caught up in the world of
methamphetamines become prone to psychotic episodes.

Hayden didn't walk down that road.

"The drug is very seductive," he said. "But something had to change."

And more every day he is thankful he took the path toward recovery.

"You have to give up everything," he said. "You have to change your
playmates and your playgrounds. Your whole social scene has to change. The
only way I did it was to get spiritually connected and join a 12-step
program. "I couldn't do this on my own."