METH TASK FORCE SETS SIGHTS ON EDUCATING COMMUNITY

While task forces are powerful in nature, what some people fail to
recognize is the underlying efforts, from all aspects of the
community, that come together to make it complete - without such
efforts it would merely be a task without the force.

The Sampson County Meth Task Force understands the array of support
needed to confront the methamphetamine crisis facing Sampson County
and has formulated a foundation for change.

By working diligently with the representatives, ranging from the
police department to the school systems, the Meth Task Force "provides
intervention opportunities designed to prevent or break the cycle of
drug abuse caused by those who manufacture, sell or use
methamphetamine.

According to officials, the task force got its start in 2004, when the
threat of this potentially fatal disease began spilling over from Tennessee.

"In the year 2000, there were zero meth labs raided in Sampson County,
out of the 322 labs found in the entire state. By the year 2004,
authorities had broken up two methamphetamine labs within this county
and this year we have found 22," said Sarah Bradshaw, director of the
Department of Social Services and a meth task force member, who
exhibited her comment through a map.

With the meth epidemic rapidly growing and spreading throughout the
Plain View area, officials from around Sampson County decided to make
a change with the creation of this task force.

As stated earlier last week by J.W. Simmons, director of Community
Service and Life Long Learning at Sampson Community College, "Our
mission was to gather people in this area with input and concern on
the growing meth problem."

Those with concerns and goals to take action against this manmade
killer start with members of the biggest organizations and trickles
down to simply one or two individuals, but no matter how large or
small, officials remarked, together they make one powerful, complete
task force.

While all are of equal importance in making the Meth Task Force a
whole, from a hierarchical angle, the first component of the task
force is the police department, sheriff's office and fire department.

When a call is received regarding a meth lab, an officer on duty will
proceed to the scene using caution because if the lab were to explode
the toxins released can be fatal or cause sever iodine and chemical
burns.

Clinton police Chief Mike Brim said, "We inform the task force when a
lab is discovered and when there are new developments they are the
ones that bring it to us. It is a great organization that is a
correlation of many businesses fighting meth."

Among those is the Sampson County Health Department (represented by
Wanda Robinson), which verifies through a contractor anything that has
come in contact with the toxins in the lab and sets protocols for its
disposal.

According to Environmental Health representative Theresa Underwood,
"The heat and air systems, appliances and furniture are all items
found in a meth lab that must be disposed of properly" to avoid
creating any additional hazardous situations.

"We (Environmental Health) also set protocols and send information
about the steps a landlord needs to follow to clean up after a meth
lab," she added.

When a meth lab is discovered and children are involved, the
Department of Social Services intervenes.

"A key concern of ours is children in meth lab situations, and the DSS
will go into potential a meth lab situation to look after any kids,"
Simmons stated last week.

As stated in a previous article , it is the DSS that sets the
protocols for situations where children are involved, however, they
have not taken a child from a lab situation, but they have intervened
to keep children from going back to a lab.

"People may underestimate social services, but they are valuable
because they deal with people with huge issues. They are skilled in
dealing with people like this," Simmons concluded.

Once a lab has been seized and arrests have been made, the meth addict
or manufacturer is not finished.

Easpointe Director Ken Jones, said, "Our responsibility is to make
sure there are services available for the different populations we
serve (mentally ill, substance abusers or developmentally disabled)."

"We educate on how harmful this drug is on the body and how addictive
it is so that the decision is made to not take this drug if the
opportunity arises," Jones finished.

According to an article by David Jefferson, "America's Most Dangerous
Drug," addicts can experience "meth mouth," "skin sores" and long term
losses to the brain.

Meth mouth, according to officials, is formed by "corrosive smoke and
constant grinding," while skin sores are infectious sores formed from
continuous scratching at imaginative "crack bugs."

Addicts can also experience 10 percent loss to the limbic systems,
which regulates emotion and may lead to a downward spiral of
depression. Also, one can experience a nine percent loss to the
hippocampus which aids to memory.

If an addict finds themselves in a downward spiral, Simmons explained,
a potential solution can come through counseling.

"Before a seven percent recovery was a high number, but now it has
reached 70 percent. We have really seen an elevation from our
beginning quest to make a difference in people's lives," Simmons emphasized.

With addicts repopulating the society once they have completed their
sentence, faith-based organizations have joined the task force to
inspire guidance.

Faith-based representative David Chestnutt of Open Door Ministry, once
abused substances, himself, however, was "delivered and set free" and
does his part to help an addict and their families.

"I would like to be ap art of helping the families and not just the
user. I didn't realize the pain I was inflicting on my family.
Churches know about meth problems because they are in our backyards,"
Chestnutt revealed.

While all the organizations listed above work in preventing labs,
recognizing addicts and guiding them to a better life free of
substance abuse, the school systems are also within the Meth Task
Force as well.

According to Superintendent Dr. Gene Hales, "Ruth Holland and Renee
White are two social workers that are involved in the task force that
we utilize to present the staff with any issues showing a child may be
involved in a meth situation.

Additionally, flyer, posters, seminars and presentations to the
students are allocated through the Meth Task Force to both students
and teachers.

Tuesday morning at Hobbton Middle School, students were presented with
one of the methamphetamine presentations by N.C. Justice Academy
training manager Dan Hines.

"We give children indicators such as visual clues and behavioral clues
to determine whether they are living with meth abusive parents or live
in a meth lab situation," Hines stated prior to the assembly.

Hines also works with the police, fire, rescue and EMS by providing
tools for recognition that they may be in a meth lab and exit strategies.

"Because of toxic gasses released in a lab explosion, they can be as
hazardous as 50 parts per million of air," Hines discussed to the
Hobbton seventh and eighth graders.

Even though these organizations represent a majority of the Sampson
County Task Force, the list is much larger and contains numerous
individuals from Star Telephone to each child, adult and elderly who
have reported a meth lab due to knowledge they gained from the task
force information.

For additional information regarding the Meth Task Force and the role
they play in the fight against methamphetamine visit methordeath.org.