THE METH EPIDEMIC

Startling statistics about methamphetamine addiction held the attention of
more than 100 people who packed a meeting room yesterday, but nothing
riveted them like a recovering meth addict who put a face on the statistics.

" It does not just affect me, as I thought," Gwen Cutter, 33, said. Her
addiction affected her parents, who are raising her two sons, 11 and 2, and
her addiction has affected the older one because he was with her during her
time of heavy use.

"I took it twice," Cutter said. "It pretty much nabbed me."

She said she "started out a hit here and there. I don't have an answer to why."

Cutter said meth gave her an energy boost. "It's something I thought I
couldn't do without," she said. "It was destroying me (in ways) that I
couldn't see."

She described being so hyperactive at work that co-workers told her boss
how she rushed around, always in a hurry, always on the go, but her
then-boss didn't think it was a problem. Others also noticed her rapid
weight loss, one of the telltale signs of meth use, Cutter said.

"I went from 155 to 100, 110 in a couple of weeks, a month," Cutter said.
She was sleeping only about an hour a night. Dark circles under the eyes
from sleep loss are another sign of meth use.

More meth users become addicted than users of other drugs, the audience at
a meth summit was told, and the addiction often begins almost immediately.
Jefferson County Prosecutor Chris Naylor cited comparisons that he had
heard at a meth summit in November: Give 100 people marijuana every day for
three weeks, and eight out of the 100 will become addicted; give 100 people
cocaine every day for three weeks and 14 out of the 100 will become
addicted. But give 100 people methamphetamine just two times and 90 of them
will become addicted.

"Know how addictive methamphetamine is," Naylor said. And, he said, share
that knowledge with friends, relatives, children and co-workers.

" It's not overstating it to say this is an epidemic" in Jefferson County,
Naylor said.

Cutter said family members tried to give her information such as newspaper
articles about the evils of meth, but she tossed away all information and
wasn't interested. She said she became more and more depressed but didn't
want to do anything about it or her addiction.

Meth is getting easier and easier to make. Currently, the ingredients and
equipment can fit into a car trunk. In answer to a question from the
audience about a new meth-making method, named "shake and bake," Rick
Stockdale of the Indiana State Police clandestine-lab unit said a new trend
on the West Coast where the two main methods of making meth are combined,
and the whole process is carried out in a 2-liter bottle. The ingredients
are put into the bottle, it's shaken, and then the bottle is left to sit
for about three hours, with the result being meth, he said.

The meth summit was sponsored by the Coalition Against Substance Abuse and
the Madison Area Chamber of Commerce. Anyone can attend CASA meetings to
talk about the area's drug problems and look for solutions, said Amanda
Schmitz, executive director of CASA. It meets at noon the third Wednesday
of each month at noon at Cabana Joe's.

The two-hour summit will be shown on cable Channel 15 starting this
weekend, but the times had not been determined. It also will be on a new
Web site at www.cableadvisoryboard.net.

Josh Wilber, human relations supervisor at the IKE power plant, told the
summit audience that small businesses are more likely to have an employee
drug problem than large businesses because they are less likely to have a
drug policy or screen for drugs. Employers should be on the lookout for the
symptoms among workers, he said, and he cited the costs to business of sick
time, workers compensation claims and carelessness on the job.

Cutter said that while she was addicted, she started making misjudgments
and lying, such as telling co-workers she would do something and then not
do it. " Getting home and getting the next drug was more important," she
said. At work, she said, "I did what I had to do and left."

Cutter said her road to recovery didn't begin until police barged into her
home and arrested her and her now ex-husband. Cutter was in jail for three
days and then went to treatment, and said she has not used meth for almost
two years.

When she was arrested, Cutter said, caseworker Dan Dattilo came in and took
the children. Nodding to him in the audience, Cutter said, "It was the best
thing that happened." The police who arrested her, Cutter said, "saved my
life. I literally was on my way because I didn't want to live anymore."

Counselor Dianna Risk of Madison Junior High School said it is
heart-wrenching when children come to her to talk about their parents' drug
use or meth lab. "The pain I see is overwhelming," she said. She sees
"fear, hate, love, the agony of doing right versus the loyalty of family."

Cutter said she also was an alcoholic for years, " but I'd say the
methamphetamine got me the worst."

"It's been a hard road to take, but well worth it," Cutter said.

"I'll always be an addict, but I'll be a recovering addict," Cutter said.
The audience applauded her when she finished.