METH TASK FORCE DISCUSSES THE GROWING SCOURGE

Fifteen people committed to raising public awareness of Henderson
County's methamphetamine problem met for the first time Monday to
examine ways to educate residents on the drug's impact. In a meeting
at Appalachian Counseling on Williams Street, the committee, half of
the newly formed Methamphetamine Task Force, began looking at ways to
slow the drug's epidemic growth. Talks centered on how to make the
community aware of the problem, which has skyrocketed in Henderson
County in the past five years.

In 1999, Sheriff's Department drug detectives investigated six meth
cases, seizing $3,855 worth of the drug. Last year, they investigated
122 meth cases and seized $201,722. From January through June of this
year, detectives already have worked 67 meth cases and seized
$220,425. The highly addictive stimulant has effects similar to
cocaine but is cheaper and lasts longer. Made from a combination of
cold medicine and toxic household chemicals, meth can be "cooked"
anywhere but usually in rural areas, its ingredients highly flammable
and costly to clean up. The committee plans to model its efforts
after those implemented by the Kansas Methamphetamine Prevention
Project, a statewide task force that saw a decrease in the number of
meth users after its first year in existence. "There are a lot of
things already in place that we can take in and modify for our use,"
said Charlene Nicely, committee chairwoman and clinical director of
Pavilion, a Mill Spring treatment facility. Informational brochures
and training sessions tailored to different age levels are among the
measures group members said they would like to implement. Seminars
would be given to professional, civic and community organizations on
how to identify meth labs and users. The task force was created in
May after nearly 50 educators, social workers, counselors, nurses,
law enforcement officers and business professionals met to discuss
meth's impact on the area. Last month, the group split into two
subcommittees. The second group, which will hold its first meeting at
noon, July 19, in the Mountain Laurel training room off Fleming
Street, plans to develops policies and protocols for agencies that
deal with meth users.

Initial publicity about the task force is alerting some people to the
problem, committee member said.

Debbie Ward, a pharmacist at Eckerd Drugs on U.S. 25 North, said a
woman recently called her crying, wanting to know if the task force
could help her daughter, a meth addict.

"Well, we're not that far along yet," Ward told her, and then
referred the distraught mother to Appalachian Counseling, which plans
to implement an intensive, meth-specific treatment program next month.