METH ABUSE INCREASING IN COUNTY

Inexpensive Drug Appears Harder To Kick Than Others

Jan Tice has a story about methamphetamine addiction.

The director of Janus of Santa Cruz, a substance abuse treatment center,
tells his story of a meth addict who lost his business, almost lost his
daughter and was a gun-click away from losing his life.

This particular gentleman owned a card room and bar. And he employed a
bouncer who was with a biker gang.

"I was using cocaine," Tice said. "He (the bouncer) introduced me to meth.
He said it was a better high and it would last longer."

That was 22 years ago. These days, Tice is an expert in the recovery field
where he now sees more and more people addicted to what used to be his drug
of choice.

Ask rehab facilities, cops or social workers these days and they say Santa
Cruz County has, albeit bit belatedly, become part of the meth abuse trend
that has gripped the nation during the past decade or so.

Cheap to buy and fairly easy to produce, methamphetamine is a form of speed
that can come in a crystal-like powder or rock-like chunks. It can be
snorted, smoked or injected. Meth is often called "speed," "crank," and
"crystal."

As crack cocaine was to the '80s and heroin was to the '90s, meth is
increasingly the drug of choice for a new millennium.

That trend is fostering property crimes, broken families and unfulfilled
potential.

"Santa Cruz is a little bit behind the rest of the country, but we are
certainly catching up," said Bill Manov, county Alcohol and Drug Program
administrator. "We're starting to see that as meth use goes up, heroin as
the drug of choice is going down. I think the epidemic has been slower to
hit Santa Cruz, but it is definitely here now."

Statistics paint part of the picture:

County drug counselors saw about 12.4 percent of their clients citing
methamphetamine as their drug of choice during 2001-02. A year later, about
18.7 percent cited meth as their primary drug.

Tice estimates about 30 percent of clients at Janus are there because of
methamphetamine, compared with 5 percent just five years ago.

Thus far in 2005, some 365 out of 694 drug-related arrests by the Santa
Cruz County Sheriff's Office have involved methamphetamine.

A UCLA study released in August on Proposition 36, the state's drug
treatment-instead-of-jail law for nonviolent offenders, showed 53 percent
of all clients in the program statewide cited meth as their drug of choice.

People on meth are posing a different kind of drug risk to law enforcement.

"Meth is a horrible problem right now," said Santa Cruz County Sheriff's
Office Sgt. Steve Carney, who works in the narcotics division.

Meth users, sometimes called "tweakers," tend to be more excitable, even
violent, and unpredictable. And staying up for days on end, called a "run,"
gives them time to contemplate how to commit crimes to support their habit,
Robbins said.

This year, the Sheriff's Office began keeping statistics on offenses like
property crimes, domestic violence and mail theft to see how often
methamphetamine is involved.

Meth is readily available in the county, but it is not necessarily produced
here. The last big meth lab bust in the county was in 2003, said Rich
Westphal of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

The Central Valley has been and continues to be a source, but agents are
also seeing the drug flowing in from the Bay Area, Southern California and
most likely from Mexico.

Once the domain of biker gangs, meth is manufactured by drug cartels as
well as just everyday people who learn to make it for themselves and
friends, sharing the recipe with others.

"It's like bakers exchanging a cake recipe," Westphal said. "You don't have
to be a scientist to make it."

Far-reaching effects On the social service end of the matter, the county is
seeing more families being disrupted by the drug.

This past January a record number of cases were in Dependency Court. That
month, there were 61 cases involving 31 families in court, about one third
of them involved meth users, said Jewel Roberts, head of the child welfare
division.

Meth abuse, and substance abuse in general, is straining the department's
efforts at finding foster homes for kids.

"In general, we don't have enough foster homes in Santa Cruz County,"
Roberts said. "We could use as many as possible."

Sandra, a recovering addict, has been in and out of rehab for the past year.

She first got help for meth abuse after prematurely giving birth to her son.

At first, meth gave her energy, made her feel powerful.

"I felt like I was really strong," Sandra said. "I would get things done. I
would work really fast."

Eventually, though, her use evolved into an $80 per day habit. She stole
from the deli where she worked to support her habit. Her weight dipped from
180 pounds to 115. She lost her job because she didn't have the energy to
go to work.

When she gave birth to her son, Child Protective Services took the baby
away because meth was in his system.

Yet, even after the birth of her son, she would use while at rehab
facilities, getting other people to take her urine tests for her.

After nearly getting kicked out of Drug Court a couple of weeks ago, she
said she is now focused on her recovery.

"I'm not just here for my kid, I'm here for me," Sandra said. "If I can't
take care of myself, I can't take care of him."

Tough to kick Treatment professionals also say the drug is causing unique
problems as it appears harder to kick than others.

Substance abuse counselors say the swing from euphoria to depression is
swift. Meth users stay up long hours. Some clean house like fanatics.

Drug abuse recovery follows a familiar master blueprint - detox,
rehabilitation and counseling, and adhering to the 12-step recovery process
originally pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous but applicable to other drugs.

But counselors say meth is proving to be a more devious beast than other drugs.

Addiction problems can arise in a matter of months, experts say, whereas
counselors sometimes don't see meth addicts seeking help until years,
sometimes even a decade or so, into their addiction.

The withdrawal period is longer than other drugs, said Manov. And once a
person gets over acute withdrawals, the craving remains strong.

How it works Meth attacks the part of the brain that affects cognitive
functioning called the orbital-frontal cortex, explained Tice. That affects
problem-solving skills, comprehension and decision-making. That part of the
brain is the part that says "no" to pleasure-seeking parts of the brain,
Tice said.

"Methamphetamine is a particularly nasty drug to the brain and it does it
quickly," Tice said. "It's hard for people to recover when they can't
think, can't solve problems."

While a 30-day stay in residential rehabilitation is the norm for most
drugs, a meth addict needs about three to six months in a structured
environment, Tice said.

For Tice, the faces he sees addicts at the center on 7th Avenue tell
stories eerily similar to his own.

Four stints in rehab. Working the 12 steps. One overdose.

"I don't think anybody goes through treatment because it is so gosh-darn
fun," he said. "There would be times when I would tell you I'm not going to
use. I'd be serious to the core about not using."

And like the addicts he counsels today, he really meant it.

He even studied the science and biology of his addiction, trying to figure
out why he was doing what he was doing.

Hitting bottom came after a three-day binge. Tice was at least a
considerate suicidal addict.

He got his 9 mm pistol and put three garbage bags over his head. He put the
gun in his mouth.

"I pulled the trigger and it went 'clack,' " Tice recalled.

He had hid the clip during his binge and forgot just where he put it.

To this day, he can't pinpoint his sobriety date, an occasion most
recovering addicts mark as their first day of not using. But he now knows a
bit about how he quit and he's glad he did not lose custody of his daughter
during that time.

Rather than fighting it alone, he began to rely on fellow recovering
addicts, structuring his life to avoid triggers that caused him to use and
attending 12-step meetings, the same advice he now dispenses to clients at
Janus.

"I just said, 'I'll go back to the meetings. I'll quit trying to figure it
out and I'll do what I am told.' "

Contact Brian Seals at
(mailto:bseals@santacruzsentinel.com?subject=Meth%20abuse%20increasing%20in%20county)bseals@santacruzsentinel.com.
Pending state and federal legislation regarding methamphetamine STATE

SB 465, authored by state Assemblyman Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, would fight
production of methampetamine by limiting sales of iodine used to make it.
Sales of iodine would be limited to 8 ounces and would require a license
from the state Department of Justice. The bill passed the Legislature and
awaits Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger's approval or veto.

AB 1063 would make it a felony to posses more than one-half pound of
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, ingredients in producing meth. The bill has
been held for consideration until next year.

AB 1017 would make it a felony to dump methamphetamine by-product on
agricultural land. The bill was held for consideration until next year.

Existing California law limits purchases of products containing
pseudoephederine, a meth ingredient, to three packages per visit.

FEDERAL

The bill authored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-California and Jim
Talent, R-Missouri, would:

Move cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter.

Amend the Controlled Substances Act to appropriately limit the sale of
medicines containing pseudoephedrine by placing them behind the counter and
sets a limit on how much of such medicines one person can buy in a month to
7.5 grams.

Require signature and identification for purchases. The Attorney General
will develop regulations to ensure uniformity.

Create alternate procedures for stores without pharmacies and stores in
rural areas. The Drug Enforcement Administration and states would develop
regulations to continue to allow cold medicine to be sold at retail stores
without pharmacies and in rural areas (but which meet appropriate security
criteria), consistent with the intent of the bill to limit access to
pseudoephedrine.

Create an airport exemption to allow retail facilities located within a
commercial airport to sell cold medicine with pseudoephedrine (in liquid
form or gel caps) in single packages containing no more than 360 milligrams
in a 24-hour period and require them to follow the log book procedures
established by the bill.

Cold medicines containing only pseudoephedrine would be moved behind the
counter within 90 days of enactment. Those medicines with pseudoephedrine
and other ingredients must be moved by Jan. 1, 2007.

Create a national meth treatment center to research effective treatments
for meth abuse.

Authorize $43 million for enforcement, training, and research into
treatment. That would include: $25 million for local law enforcement and
$13 million for meth treatment and research as well as $5 million to help
children who have been affected by meth.

Bill targets cold medicine By BRIAN SEALS SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Friday that would force retailers to put
products containing pseudoephederine behind the counter.

The bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and Jim
Talent, R-Missouri, is intended to fight methamphetamine production.

Pseudoephederine is a common ingredient in over-the-county cold medicine
and also a key ingredient in producing methamphetamine.

Some area pharmacies said they would have no problem abiding with the bill
should it become law.

"It (meth) is a rampant problem, that sounds like one good possible
solution," said Tim Leal of Hornsyder Pharmacy in Santa Cruz. "We would be
happy to accommodate that kind of ruling."

The law would be somewhat burdensome for small pharmacies, but worthwhile
in general, said Chris Quesenberry at Westside Pharmacy.

While meth labs haven't been a huge problem here, she said that could change.

"I imagine that if they didn't curb it now, it would become a big problem,"
Quesenberry said.

Aside from putting pseudoephederine products behind the counter, it would
also limit purchase of the product to 7.5 grams per month.

The bill is based on a similar state law in Oklahoma credited with helping
reduce the number of meth labs in that state. It now heads to a conference
committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Earlier this year, after the bill was introduced, a string of chain stores
agreed to voluntarily put such products behind the counter, including Longs
Drugs, Albertsons, Rite Aid, and Target, according to Feinstein's office.

California already has a law, under Health and Safety Code Section 11100,
that limits purchases of pseudoephederine products to three packages per visit.

The rules may not eliminate methamphetamine production, but they do curb it
by slowing them down and cutting into their bottom line, said Rich Westphal
of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

Meth cooks can get around laws by shopping around at different stores or
hiring others to buy it for them.

"It slows them down and it's an added cost," Westphal said.