OFFICER, FORMER ADDICT DESCRIBE BANE OF METH

An inspector for the Southeastern Illinois Drug Task Force and a
former methamphetamine addict gave a vivid description of what life
is like for some meth users at an informational meeting at East
Richland Middle School on Tuesday.

The meeting was sponsored by East Richland School District, Richland
Memorial Hospital and the Southeastern Illinois Drug Task Force. The
event was held in conjunction with Red Ribbon Week.

Inspector John Nicholson, of Clay County, opened the meeting with a
PowerPoint presentation called "Meth: The Devil's Drug," giving
facts, figures and pictures associated with meth.

Nicholson said that when he started his career, all the drug problems
were about pot, but the last seven years it has been about meth.

"I hate to say this but I miss the good old days of pot," Nicholson said.

Officers used to use undercover operations for drug busts, but now
they hardly do any because meth users work in cells and make it themselves.

Nicholson explained the effects of meth, noting it is a stimulant,
stronger than cocaine, and addictive with no medical use. It can be
smoked, snorted, injected or ingested.

Five or six years ago, he said it was ingested, but he explained now
makers are not getting the impurities out and it is rarely eaten or snorted.

It makes users aggressive, irritable, anxious, have auditory
hallucinations, and paranoid delusions, with physical effects such as
weight loss for some, sweat, body odor with chemical tinge to it, bad
teeth, open sores and suspiciousness.

"Meth is a psychologically addictive drug," Nicholson said.

Nicholson explained the brain damage the drug does by comparing it to
the MRI of a stroke victim.

"I can't stress enough the extreme paranoia," he said, noting many
meth users have all their windows blocked, see cops behind every bush
and often keep loaded guns around their home.

He went on to explain something called "tweaking," which is when a
user's body refuses to get high anymore.

Nicholson described the person who was tweaking as quite dangerous,
saying they were extremely paranoid, very violent and have not slept
for days. The person who is tweaking often looks like a zombie, Nicholson said.

He warned the crowd that if they come in contact with a person they
think is tweaking to keep a social distance, not to shine bright
light in their eyes, speak in a slow and monotone voice, move slowly
and keep their hands visible.

Nicholson cautioned the audience to keep the person talking and
beware of silences because silence means the user is about to "go off."

Nicholson explained meth is cheap to make with a huge profit margin,
though most makers split it up and use it themselves.

"Nobody makes any money off of this," he said.

His pet peeve is the ingredients are so easy to get.

At one point in the meeting, Nicholson emptied a plastic tub, which
he called his soapbox, of cold medicine onto the table and said he
had found all the pills on one person who got them all in one day.

The most popular form of meth making in the midwest is called the
Nazi or Reduction Birch method, which uses ephedrine or
psuedoephedrine, anhydrous ammonia, lithium batteries, drain cleaner,
camp fuel and table salt.

He explained the risks associated with several of the ingredients,
including the effects of anhydrous ammonia and lithium, telling
various stories of meth users with whom he had come in contact.

For every pound of meth made, there are six pounds of hazardous
waste, and they don't care where they dump it, Nicholson said, as he
showed a photo of a farm where users dumped chemicals into the
farmer's creek. Several head of cattle died from poisoning.

Outlining the toll meth takes on the community, Nicholson said
investigations cost between $1,00-$1,500 and cleanup of a lab costs
$2,000 on average, but can be as much as $10,000.

The number of drug users in jails have increased dramatically and
health-care costs are incurred.

At one point in the presentation, he flashed a picture on the screen
showing drug paraphernalia surrounding a note left by an 8-year-old
child that said "Put me up for adoption now."

Nicholson said that in 2004 1,900 meth labs were seized, 55 by the
Southeastern Illinois Drug Task Force.

He has spoken in the state legislature about the problem and said it
was an eye opener how much some of them didn't care.

In northern Illinois and Chicago, meth is not as big a problem.

"They just don't understand," he said.

In Clay County, Nicholson collects buyer sheets of psuedoephederine
every week, where retailers take ID and write name, address, and date
of birth. Pill sales have dropped off the charts, he said.

Though many now go out of county to get their pills, Nicholson said
"At least we know we are not supplying the pills." He suggested if
the approach was approved all around, the problem would be controlled.

"If you could magically snap your fingers and took pseudoephederine
off the market, meth is done," he said.

Though he used to think the only way to handle users was to string
them from the tallest tree with the shortest rope, interaction with
Misty Cobb changed his mind.

Nicholson said to help users, communities need a multipronged attack
to help the people who want help.

He told a story of a user who came to him, before he was arrested,
wanting a way out and Nicholson had no where to take him immediately.
Counseling required an appointment.

Nicholson said it was embarrassing to have no where to send him for help.

He said there is a small window of opportunity with the majority of
users, when they want out, and if they get help in that window,
Nicholson believes they can be changed.

Cobb, a former drug user, is proof of that multi-pronged approach.
Nicholson was her arresting officer.

She described how she'd started doing drugs at a young age. She
slowly found herself abusing her children and her mother.

She described losing her children and being in the hospital three times.

When she found out they were going to get a judge's order to keep her
in a crisis center, she ripped out the IV and left, going straight to
the drug house.

She went to jail and then had home confinement.

"You should have seen me in court. I was the biggest liar you've ever
seen," she said.

She convinced the judge she was done with drugs and then went back to
doing drugs.

She went back into the hospital again. She had a stroke this time and
couldn't talk or walk. Her children were told she would likely die.

A court order was obtained this time and she went to a detox center.
An intense program got her clean and she started speaking out with
her children.

She got into church and she said Jesus turned her life around. She
has her children back.

By helping addicts, Cobb said you are really helping the children. "I
have a hard time watching them struggle from what I've done to them,"
Cobb said.

She wants to educate people that the belief "Once an addict always an
addict" isn't always true.

There are some who want out, which was explained as another former
addict and friend of Cobb's spoke about her meth use. When she wanted
out, Misty was available to help give her support.

Nicholson said the Clay County Anti Meth Coalition was formed to
educate the public, and try to get grant funding for counselors and safe houses.