SOUNDING THE METH ALARM

Legislative measures have been taken to limit the amount of
pseudoephedrine that can be purchased; law enforcement has extended
its arm as far as it can to shut down labs and apprehend users and
sellers; and dozens of agencies have formed partnerships to tackle the
social, psychologial and health issues. But the problem with the
manufacture and use of methamphetamine continues to grow.

Unfortunately, we don't see the problem waning any time
soon.

It's not that people from all walks aren't trying to stop meth use;
it's that the people we all are trying to reach aren't listening or
aren't taking the warnings seriously. For sellers, the warnings matter
little. All they are interested in is making money from the addiction
of others. They don't care if the drug addicts; they don't care that
it destroys lives.

But for users, the warnings should be heeded. What is being said is
certainly meant to frighten, but it's not exaggerated in an attempt to
scare people into stopping the habit. It's a very real problem with
very real and dangerous consequences.

Meth users do become addicts ... nearly the minute they partake of
their first does. Meth users find themselves losing massive amounts of
weight; developing boils or sores; and losing interest in just about
everything except the drug that has taken hold of their lives. Meth
users can't hold jobs. Meth users who try to cook their own drug put
themselves and their families at risk. Meth users likely, without help
and with continued use, will die.

Yet none of those facts seem to faze the growing number of people who
have decided to toss good sense to the wind in exchange for yet
another high, yet another way to escape their lives.

Recently, Sampson County law enforcement officers found and dismantled
its 12th meth lab. The number of arrests are continuing to mount. And,
it's likely that for every person arrested, there's at least triple
that number using and getting away with it.

Neighboring Duplin County has a similar problem with meth, and is
facing the same dilemmas we do here.

And, as with every other illegal drug that addicts seek and sellers
ply, other crimes are sure to follow. From robberies and home
invasions to murders, nearly every crime we read about in the
newspapers can be tied to drug use.

That alone should signal to each of us just how devastating this
problem is. What's more, it should also signal the impact drug
problems have on all our lives, whether we use or not.

That's why doing all we can to educate people to the devastation meth
can cause is so important. If it takes scaring them; if it takes
arresting them; if it takes catching them and finding them help, then
that's what it should take and what should be done.

Stamping out meth use is imperative to all our lives. It's true of any
drug, but we believe it's never been truer or more imperative than
with meth use.

Too many lives have been broken; too many children have been impacted;
too many communities have been torn apart for us not to sound the
alarm and call on others to do the same. We must do our part. Any less
would be burying our heads in the sand and pretending no problem
exist. That may work for a while, but in the end, reality will bite
and bite hard.

So let's work together to educate, help and, if necessary, arrest
until we stop meth from taking over our lives.