DRUG FORUM WARNS OF LONG-TERM BATTLE

How bad is the drug problem in our county?

Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force Director Cheyenne Albro told the crowd of
60 attending a community drug forum Wednesday that the question is one of
the most common ones he hears when speaking about drug issues.

The answer is less than heartening.

"Per population, your drug problem here in Princeton and Caldwell County
is just the same as L.A., Miami, New York and other areas," he said.

"All the same drugs that you deal with in other areas eventually find
their way here," he added.

The forum, "Not My Child! (Are You Sure?)," was sponsored by the Caldwell
County Champions Coalition, the CCHS Champions Against Drugs club, the
Caldwell County Sheriff's Department, the Princeton Police Department and
Kentucky State Police.

Rachel Bloodworth, one of the forum's organizers, said parents should wake
up to the reality that drugs are a problem locally.

"Many of us think our children wouldn't do anything like that because
we've taught them better," she said. "But that's out the window, because
they are doing it. It is our children."

Albro said winning the war on drugs required success in three areas:
enforcement, education and treatment.

Law enforcement cannot do it alone, he said.

"Drug abuse is a devastating disease. It's got a death grip on our nation.
The cure for that disease is you, the public."

Prevention education is the key, he said.

The number one illegal drug problem in the area, he said, is marijuana.
"It has been and always will be, probably, because of availability," he said.

Methamphetamine ranks about fourth, he said. "But it's such a sinister drug."

The forum's second speaker, the Rev. Curtis McGehee, chaplain for the
Muhlenberg County Sheriff's Department, highlighted meth's particular
dangers, including an addiction rate estimated at between 95 and 98
percent -- 95 to 98 of every 100 people who try meth will become addicted.

"In comparison to other drugs, this is overwhelming," he said. "I believe
personally that it's the most destructive drug on the planet."

An estimated 90 percent of meth users are either incarcerated,
brain-damaged or dead within five years of first using the drug, he said.

In addition to its harm on the user, meth also poses a threat to children
and anyone else in a home where meth is manufactured, he said.
Furthermore, the discarded toxic byproducts of the drug's manufacture pose
a significant environmental risk.

Every pound of meth manufactured generates between 5 and 6 pounds of toxic
waste, he said.

Dealing with meth and other drugs requires involvement from everyone, he
added.

"It's not up to law enforcement alone to solve this problem," he said.
"This is a moral and a spiritual problem this is one time when people need
to come together from every walk of life."

Albro concurred, and noted a need for greater parental involvement.

Too much of the responsibility for teaching morality has been left to
schools and churches, he said.

The message to stay away from drugs should begin at home, and early -- "as
soon as they can understand what you're talking about," he said.

Albro pointed to Operation Parent, a program that will hopefully take
place in Caldwell County next spring, that gives parents a firsthand look
at common drugs and their effects.

Common warning signs that children may be using drugs can be as simple as
a change in their appearance, the way they dress or the friends with whom
they associate.

Parents should also watch for unexplained weight gain or weight loss,
curfew violations, mood swings, depression, items missing from the home,
glassy eyes, dilated pupils and reckless behavior.

All could be signs that a child is using drugs, he said.

For those who are already addicted, there are treatment options.

One of those options, the Western Kentucky Teen Challenge, was discussed
Wednesday by its director, Robert Morck.

More than 190 Teen Challenge centers are now in operation in the U.S., he
said, and centers are located on six continents around the world.

Centers are available for teens, adult men and adult women, he said.

The Teen Challenge program, he added, is "widely recognized to be the most
successful drug program in the world."

He pointed to a Northwestern University study showing an 86 percent
success rate for the Teen Challenge program and its Christ-centered
treatment plan, compared with 4 percent for the average secular program.

"Addiction takes the whole person," he said. "The war has to be fought on
all levels."

The treatment and recovery program takes between 12 and 14 months, he said.

Albro pointed out the distinction between detoxification plans and
programs that actually treat the addiction itself.

"Psychological addiction may last for years, if not a lifetime," he said,
since the drug is often "the most powerful thing that they have ever
encountered."

"There are no quick fixes with addiction."

Continued support from the community is essential to making progress in
the drug war, said Sheriff Stan Hudson, who declared drugs to be the cause
of 90 percent of the problems encountered by law enforcement.

"I think if you continue to fight and continue to do it as a community,
you win as a community," he said.