METHODS IN METH FIGHT ARE EXPLORED

Speaking Out: The Bush Administration's Handling Of The Methamphetamine
Problem Is Criticized

Common Ground: Police And Social Workers Agree More Money Is Needed To
Fight The Drug Problem

It was an odd scene Friday at the downtown Salt Lake City Hilton: Folks who
provide free sterilized needles to drug users schmoozing with law
enforcement officers.

Often perceived to be on different sides of the prevention fence, social
workers and cops came together to explore new strategies for combating
America's methamphetamine problem.

Organizers of the two-day conference touted the robust attendance of 900 as
a sign that the mind-set of criminalizing and waging war on drugs is
changing. But they feel they have yet to reach policymakers, including the
drafters of the Bush administration's new meth initiative, which was
soundly criticized at the event.

Announcing the initiative in Tennessee on Thursday, Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales labeled methamphetamine "a scourge" that demands
"unconventional thinking and innovative solutions."

Allan Clear, director of the national Harm Reduction Coalition, the primary
sponsor of the First National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV and
Hepatitis, said: "If they believed that, they'd be here."

Clear took aim at U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Indiana, who criticized the Bush
administration as "soft" on meth because the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services was a conference sponsor.

"If I want to find out how to deal with methamphetamine, I would rather
listen to a treatment provider from Los Angeles or an epidemiologist from
Harvard than to an ideologue from Indiana," he said.

Bush announced his initiative days after Souder's attack, but both Souder
and conference organizers rejected it as a token effort.

The plan places a high priority on the prosecution of meth cooks and repeat
offenders. It also freed up $16.2 million for treatment programs in 11 states.

But experts at Friday's meeting say more money is needed, as well as a more
sophisticated and collaborative approach to meth abuse.

Keynote speaker Patricia Case questioned the use of the term "epidemic,"
describing the current wave of meth use as an endemic problem.

"America has always loved stimulants. People take stimulants to accomplish
things. It's chemical software and plays perfectly to our shared American
qualities: the desire to be perfect, work harder, be smarter, be thinner .
. . and win at all costs," said the Harvard Medical School social scientist
and professor.

She encouraged the audience to contemplate, "Is the intervention with the
drug or is it with ourselves?"

Case charted the rise and fall of stimulants from the late 1800s to the
present day. They were used by servicemen during most major wars, and 1950s
housewives yearning to lose weight and escape depression.

In 1962, President Kennedy admitted relying on stimulants during the Cuban
Missile Crisis.

"Everything old is new again," said Case. She and others agreed Friday that
there are key differences to the current meth crisis, which offer clues for
treating it.

Meth knows no social barriers, used by all ethnic groups, classes and both
genders. In addition, it's produced locally rather than imported, making it
widely available.

Law enforcement has come to see meth addiction as a disease, rather than
just a crime, said Marjean Searcy of the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Searcy spoke Friday of a program in which Utah police, social workers,
child welfare officials and judges joined forces to help people arrested
for possession of meth get treatment and stay off the drug.

While meth lab busts have dropped in Utah, people are seeking treatment and
being arrested for possession in growing numbers.

But Searcy says the program has helped alleviate some of the damage that
the drug does, by keeping families intact and parents employed and out of jail.