COUNTY MAY FUND ANTI-METH PROJECTS

KINGMAN - The Mohave County Board of Supervisors is considering
funding for two proposed meth education projects, one county-based
and one statewide.

Chairman Pete Byers said the proposals he has read for both projects
have been worthwhile. If they can manage it, he said he would like
to try to give funding of some sort to both.

One of the proposals is from the Boys and Girls Clubs in Mohave
County. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Arizona are proposing a program
for meth education that ties into their SMART Moves programs.

According to information from Boys and Girls Clubs, the SMART Moves
program strategy has proven so successful that several additional
programs have been developed that address issues such as HIV/AIDS,
gang prevention and conflict resolution, steroid use and a SMART
Program strictly for girls. All of these programs are age-appropriate.

As a result of the passage of House Bill 2554, they said, a grant
has been established from the Arizona Department of Heath Services
to the Arizona Alliance for Meth Prevention. A total of $500,000 was
dispersed to the Alliance, which is passing it on to 16 Boys and
Girls Clubs across Arizona.

"Meth is one of the most addictive and destructive drugs around,"
they said. "Over 98 percent of people who use meth become addicted,
and some die after just trying it once.

"As a result, the Arizona Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs has taken a
proactive approach to address this ever-growing drug epidemic.
MethSMART, a Methamphetamine Prevention/Education program, will
incorporate current research about problems confronting young people
and provide them with viable solutions to help them handle
challenging circumstances while avoiding risky and unhealthy
behaviors. By including parent and staff education pieces, MethSMART
successfully makes the prevention of methamphetamine abuse a team
effort for those adults involved in our children's lives."

The money is being given to the Boys and Girls Clubs, they said,
because for the last two legislative sessions, the Boys and Girls
Clubs have worked tirelessly with the legislators in securing
legislation and funding to finance a program dealing specifically
with meth prevention.

The proposed program will incorporate research about problems
confronting young people and presenting viable solutions. It will
include strong parent and staff involvement as well as teaching the
adults how to stay effectively involved in their child's lives.

The program will split the participants into age groups stating at
age 6 up to 18. It would consist of six interactive sessions to
break the problem down to allow each age group the ability to
understand what the problem was and how to make the right decisions.

While the program will go on with the Boys and Girls Clubs, the
funding they are requesting from Mohave County would assist them in
spreading the program into local schools.

The second program is being proposed statewide.

"With the recent passage of HB 2254, Substance Abuse Treatment
Appropriations, the state has made available dollars to support the
war against methamphetamine," said Maricopa County Chairman of the
Board of Supervisors Don Stapley. "As we all struggle to fight this
scourge upon our counties, we have an opportunity to make some
positive strides. As I presented at the April 20 CSA Board of
Directors meeting, Maricopa County is leading the effort to
implement an Arizona Meth Project. This initiative will consist of
an aggressive public prevention campaign to inform our children,
youth, and their parents of the terrible consequences of methamphetamine use."

The program would be modeled after the well-established Montana Meth
Project. They would have access to the high-quality media
commercials used by Montana and would take an aggressive approach to
educating youth about the dangers of meth.

As a result of the bill, each county has been designated to receive
a set amount of money from the state for meth education. Maricopa
County has already committed its funds, in addition to $2 million
more, as a start. Stapely said he was urging other counties to get
on board and designate funds to this project.

Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan said his department arrested 551
people in 2004 on drug-related charges. The number increased to 590
in 2005 and has continued to rise this year, he said.

Of those, about 15 percent are juveniles and about 65 to 70 percent
were arrests for meth.

Meth has become a major problem in Mohave Count and statewide,
Sheahan said. Each of the communities have taken major steps to try
to slow the problem, however, youth have to be constantly reminded
of the problems associated with drugs.

For their part, Sheahan said they teach the D.A.R.E. program to
middle school students in the unincorporated sections of Mohave
County. He said he feels that the program has gone well.

Both of these programs, he said, would be beneficial and would take
a close look at prevention.