METH ABUSE COSTS NATION MORE THAN $23 BILLION

Big Portion Attributed To Related Crimes, Effects On Children

The economic cost of methamphetamine abuse in the U.S. -- including
the cost to jail users, put addicts through treatment and clean up
meth labs -- was about $23 billion in 2005, according to a just-released study

The findings are surprising given how little attention meth use has
gotten in anti-drug campaigns compared with other drugs, such as
cocaine and marijuana, wrote the authors of the study, which was
conducted by the RAND Corp.

"Obviously the next step is to look into prevention efforts,
enforcement efforts," said Nancy Nicosia, the study's lead author and
a RAND economist.

Meth, sometimes known as "speed," "ice" and "crank," is a highly
addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It can
be smoked, inhaled or injected.

The RAND study was the first attempt to do a national assessment of
the costs associated with meth use. Researchers looked at data from
2005 because it was the most recent year for which data needed to do
the estimate was available.

According to the study, one big portion of the costs associated with
meth use -- $4.2 billion -- is related to crimes committed by meth
users to feed their habits and the cost of sending them through the
criminal justice system.

A special report in The Riverside Press-Enterprise last year showed
that while meth production had plummeted in the inland California
region, its use remained very high.

Meth labs in the High Desert also have all but disappeared, but usage
has not faltered, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff's
Department officials.

In two California counties -- Riverside and San Bernardino -- about
58 percent of people admitted to public drug treatment facilities
identified meth as their primary drug in 2006, much higher than the
state average of 37 percent, according to records from the California
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

"Every client that walks in here does have a meth problem," Tina
Perry, a counselor at House of Hope in Adelanto said. "It's still a
huge problem."

The study also looked at the impact on children of meth users, and
the costs associated with removing them from their homes and putting
them in foster care. According to the study, that costs $905 million.

Sherry Eversole, a San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
detective who specializes in drug cases involving children, said
there are a number of other costs that the study probably doesn't
even take into account.

Children of meth users often have attention-deficit disorders, lack
motivation, are depressed and confused, and are behind their
classmates in school, she said.

Perry has seen the drug reach younger and younger users. Although the
treatment facilities she has worked in treat adults 18 and older, she
has seen more and more 18-year-olds with an already extensive
methamphetamine history.

"What we really need, especially here in the desert, is funding for
more programs and facilities so families can get help," Perry said.

She also listed preventive education as a top priority for younger students.

According to the study, the estimated cost on society for each meth
user in the country is $26,872.

Tom Siebel, founder and chairman of the Meth Project, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to meth use prevention and the study's
sponsor, said that the study "reinforces the need to invest in
serious prevention programs that work."

For more information and quotes from Maria Lozano Cox, a supervising
behavioral health specialist in Riverside County, read Thursday's
edition of the Daily Press. To subscribe, call 241-7755 or click here.

Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service. Staff writer Beatriz E.
Valenzuela contributed to this report.