CRYSTAL METH HARMS CHILDREN

States Are Being Overwhelmed By The Children Of Addicted Parents

Major newspapers have focused attention on the crystal meth problem
that has hit rural America. It's created a huge new social problem --
meth orphans.

Parents addicted to crystal meth neglect their children, failing to
feed them or otherwise care for them, often exposing them to
pornography or sexual abuse. Eventually, the state must step in.

Kate Zernike of the New York Times visited a shelter in Tulsa, Okla.,
that is supposed to house 38 children for 24 hours until foster care
can be arranged.

It has housed up to 90 children at times, some for months, most of
them orphaned by crystal meth. Parents make this stuff in their homes
from common ingredients including cold medicines, fertilizer and
battery acid. This exposes children to toxic chemicals and a toxic lifestyle.

"We used to think, you give these kids a good home and lots of love
and they'll be O.K.," Esther Rider-Salem, the manager of Child
Protective Services programs for Oklahoma, told the reporter. "This
goes above and beyond anything we've seen."

Children are not potty trained or otherwise given basic skills. As
pediatrician Mick Stratton said: "The oldest kid becomes the parent,
and the oldest kid may be 4 or 5 years old."

The Drug Enforcement Agency reported that 15,000 children have been
found in meth lab homes over the past five years.

Using a federal law passed to protect crack babies, agencies can
terminate parental rights. But foster parents are reluctant to step in.

"People always ask, what can they do about meth?" said Attorney
General Wayne Stenehjem of North Dakota. "The most important thing
you can do is become a foster parent, because we're just seeing so
many kids being taken from these homes."

Crystal meth is now the nation's top drug problem, according to the
National Association of Counties, which polled law enforcement
agencies in 45 states.

But there is some hope. An Oklahoma law that restricts the sale of
pseudophedrine-based cold medicines is working and has been adopted
by several states, including West Virginia. Efforts by law
enforcement also work.

Guy Taylor of the Washington Times reported, "Police seizures of meth
labs also have dropped sharply on the West Coast, particularly in
California, where police last year raided about half the number of
labs as in 1999, the DEA reported."

Drug use is not a victimless crime.

Society pays in many ways, with the heaviest price being paid by these children.