METH SUMMIT FOCUSES ON ROLE OF FAMILY IN PREVENTION

LOVELAND -- After spending Monday talking about methamphetamine with
a room full of law enforcement officers, counselors, social workers
and others, Frank Lancaster decided to speak with his teenage son.

"This is going to be our dinner conversation tonight," Lancaster
said, illustrating that he had heard the officials, who, during the
daylong meth summit, stressed the importance of family in preventing
drug use.

As a district chairman for the Boy Scouts, he plans to continue
working on ways to provide youngsters with positive alternatives to
drugs -- something many at the Larimer and Weld County Meth Summit
said was key to beating the drug.

And as Larimer County manager, he plans to pull together a list of
county resources to help a soon-to-be-formed steering committee.

"We could help serve as a catalyst to get this going in the
community," Lancaster said.

He did not want the momentum, excitement and hope created during a
full day of panels, speakers and small brainstorming groups to fade.

More than 50 people listened to each other, spoke earnestly -- as
Sheriff Jim Alderden put it, showed they can "play in the same
sandbox" -- and developed a vision. They want to create a steering
committee to craft a master outline to deal with methamphetamine in
Larimer and Weld counties, using ideas generated during Monday's summit.

Those ideas include:

Providing long-term treatment with personal accountability.

Making sure addicts have the support they need, such as child care
or help finding a job or a place to live.

Involving families in treatment and support.

Continuing law enforcement's focus on cutting off supply of the drug.

Bringing the community together to offer support and other
activities to lure residents away from drug use.

Changing the community norm from a town where alcohol is a key
ingredient in fun to a community that promotes healthy living.

That positive community image is key to prevention, said Scoot
Crandall, executive director of TEAM Fort Collins.

Typical "scared straight" prevention methods do not work and, in
actuality, have the opposite effect of increasing drug use, Crandall said.

The television comparison of a fried egg to the effect of drugs on
the brain -- "This is your brain; this is your brain on drugs" --
also doesn't work, he said.

The $14 million Montana meth project that involves hard-hitting
billboards showing the dangers of the drug and urging people "Not
even once" is money down the drain, he said.

What works, Crandall said, is promoting health and positive behavior.

The numbers in the Larimer County Detention Center prove every day
that the classic prevention approach is a "complete and utter
failure," Sheriff Jim Alderden said.

He hopes for better but admits he is not as optimistic as some
others at the summit.

As it is, Alderden said, the agencies in question already do not
have enough money. Where will the money for prevention and treatment
come from?

Answering that question will be a task of the steering committee
that will be formed from the seeds of the Monday meth summit, which
focused on finding a new approach.

After all, change is the goal -- a very achievable goal, said Deb
Hill, a former meth addict who is now a drug counselor.

"You are the ones who can help shift the paradigm from 'stop them'
to 'help them,'" she said.