METH ADDICTION ON RISE IN CITIES

Chicago -- Already known as a rural scourge, methamphetamine is
becoming a problem in a number of U.S. cities.

Meetings of the 12-step group Crystal Meth Anonymous have increased in
Chicago from one night a week a few years ago to five a week. In the
Atlanta area, methamphetamine users account for the fastest-growing
segment of addicts seeking treatment. Rehabilitation centers there are
seeing an uptick in the number of female meth addicts, while officials
in Minneapolis-St. Paul say they're treating an alarming number of
meth users younger than 18.

"Most people just think it happens in the farmlands and the prairies
or out back behind the barn," says Carol Falkowski, director of
research communications at the Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota. But
that's not the case anymore.

Falkowski found that meth addicts now represent about 10 percent of
patients admitted to drug treatment programs in the Twin Cities,
compared with 7.5 percent a year ago and about 3 percent in 1998.
About a fifth of those meth users who sought help in the last year
were minors.