METH PANEL DESCRIBES HARSH REALITIES

The good news is that only 15 methamphetamine labs were found in Clark
County in 2004, down from 21 two years ago.

The bad news is the street price of meth has dropped anyway, from $12,500
per pound in 2002 to $9,000 last year, as supplies of the powerful
stimulant from outside the area continue to flood the county.

The good news is the 2005 Legislature provided more money an estimated $1
million more for Clark County to treat drug addiction among poor addicts
next year.

The bad news is that will only boost the percentage of adults getting
treatment from 20 percent to 30 percent of the Medicaid-eligible population
next year.

At an unusual three-hour work session Wednesday, Clark County commissioners
heard a blizzard of numbers and sobering anecdotes from people on the front
lines of the meth war. The 15-member panel included a recovering meth
addict, a hospital emergency room physician, the regional director of a
child protective services agency, and a police commander who searched in
vain for help when she learned that her own son was using meth.

Commissioner Marc Boldt will chair a new task force that will propose ways
to fill gaps in the county's meth action plan. One possibility, Boldt said,
is to ask county voters to support a sales tax dedicated to fighting meth.
Cowlitz County voters will decide Sept. 20 whether to tax themselves 2
cents on each $10 purchase to put more police on the streets, hire another
county prosecutor and fund meth treatment programs.

But on Wednesday, the commissioners listened.

Dr. David Lloyd, who heads the emergency department at Southwest Washington
Medical Center, described some of the meth addicts he has treated in his
emergency room: two 20-year-olds who suffered strokes, one 18-year-old who
had a heart attack, and three children younger than 3, including a year-old
baby, who tested positive for meth after ingesting the drug.

A family affliction

Ernie Veach-White, administrator of the Clark County Juvenile Court, said a
recent survey revealed that 80 percent of the 300 young people in the court
system who violated terms of their probation had used drugs; 45 percent of
those had used meth. Nearly half of the youngsters' parents also used
drugs, he said.

"I want to say to parents: Please stop using drugs with your children,"
Veach-White pleaded. "Please stop making drugs available to your children."

Doug Lehrman, area administrator of the state Children's Administration,
which handles reports of child abuse and neglect, described a wave of
children who have been damaged by meth-addicted parents. About 80 percent
of the 600 children placed in foster care in the county at any one time are
from meth-affected homes, Lehrman said.

Meth-using parents neglect their children's need for food, shelter, health
care, schooling, and even basic nurturing, Lehrman said. "Our children have
significant mental health needs and significant socialization needs."

But resources to help these children are lacking. "Mental health services
for meth-affected children is a huge service gap," he said.

Jim Miller, a deputy county prosecuting attorney, said felony drug filings
make up one-third of all felony filings his office handles, and 75 percent
of those filings are meth-related. He refers some of those cases to the
county's drug court, he said, but the court can handle only a small
fraction of the need.

Vancouver Police Cmdr. Marla Schuman related her own experience after she
discovered that her 16-year-old son was using meth. "When it happened to my
own child, I couldn't find access" to help, she said.

"The answer I got at every turn was that there are no resources unless he
is in the criminal justice system."

She finally called the police after she discovered her son had stolen her
checkbook and was forging her name on checks. "They arrested him for theft
and forgery," she said. In the juvenile court system, he was diagnosed with
a bipolar disorder and received nine months of treatment for his mental
illness and addiction. He has been clean for two years.

Did you know?

Up to 80 percent of forgery and identity theft crimes committed in Clark
County each year are meth-related.

Eighty percent of the 400 to 500 children placed in foster care in the
county each year are from homes where meth is used.

Nearly all meth users also abuse other illicit drugs or alcohol; in Clark
County, the most common drug used with meth is marijuana.