HEALING HELPERS FIGHTING METH USE IN DEEP EAST TEXAS

Over the past year or so, Melanie Richmond has seen first-hand how
methamphetamine destroys lives.

"I have a high school classmate who is now in prison because of
meth," she said. "A member of our extended family has been affected
by it, and two children in our community have died in cases that
involved meth."

Richmond, a Nacogdoches resident, started to wonder when people would
wake up to the problem that is "right here in our own back yard."
Then, she started wondering what she could do to wake people up.

Richmond, a massage therapist by trade, said she knew nothing about
methamphetamine. But she had developed a passion for addressing this
problem, because she had witnessed first-hand the havoc that it
wreaks in people's lives.

"I went to a Mothers Against Meth Web site," she said. "But that
organization focuses primarily on the drug, and I wanted to focus on
the drug-endangered child – the innocent children who are
affected by the use of meth in the home."

Richmond was eventually contacted by an organization called "Healing
Helpers," and she immediately set to work to establish a chapter of
the organization in Deep East Texas. She started the group in
December 2005, and last month a conference was held to educate the
community about the dangers of meth.

Richmond said about 50 people attended the conference, and she hopes
next year's will be even bigger and better. She is also hoping to get
a foot in the door at local schools, so she can work with students to
make them aware of the incredible dangers associated with meth.

"We're also trying to get this issue on the legislative agenda," she
said. "We want them to give Child Protective Services the capability
to do more for these children. Too often, the case workers' hands are
tied."

The Legislature made strides in the fight against meth when they
limited the amount of ephedrine a shopper can purchase at one time.
Ephedrine, found in many cold medicines, is one of the main
ingredients in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

As far as Richmond is concerned, prevention is the
key.

"Treating someone who is hooked on meth isn't like treating someone
who is hooked on other types of drugs," she said. "They recommend 18
to 24 months of residential treatment. Even that yields only a
50-percent success rate."

As hard as it is to recover from an addiction to methamphetamine,
Richmond said she has heard from former addicts that it can be done.
And those former addicts applaud her efforts to increase prevention
efforts in Nacogdoches.

"They don't know what will happen to them the first time they use
it," she said. "They think they can do it once, and not get addicted."

But the sense of euphoria and energy and the insatiable urges created
by meth use, are what keep the addicts going back for more, she said.

The insatiable urges are one of the most dangerous side effects of
the drug, she said. Richmond has collected news stories from across
the nation, detailing the horrendous things that people have done
while under the influence of methamphetamine. She has read the
stories and relayed them to others so often, she is now quite
familiar with details of dismemberments, beheadings, stabbings,
shootings and sexual assaults. In some of the most tragic cases,
those under the influence of meth have committed some of these
offenses against their own children.

Those are the cases that have driven Richmond to fulfill her personal
mission to fight the growing problem of meth use in East Texas.

"At this point, we're still trying to figure out where we fit in,"
she said. "We're working with Nacogdoches Safe and Drug Free, and
we're open to suggestions from the community. We want to serve and
educate wherever we can make the most impact."