METH ADDICTS TELL OF RUINOUS HABIT

"Brandy McClure, whose son was taken into protective custody after he
ws born with meth in his system Brandy McClure visited her doctor
regularly, listened to her baby's heartbeat and delighted in the
ultrasound picture of the growing life inside her. At the same time,
she told herself she wasn't pregnant and continued to take injections
of methamphetamine.

"The day I went in to have the ultrasound done, I was so happy,"
McClure said. "And I just thought, 'Hey, I'm so happy. I'm gonna go
home and have a shot of dope to celebrate.'"

On June 12, McClure, 31, shot up again. Four days later, she began
hemorrhaging and was rushed to a hospital in Sapulpa, then flown to
Tulsa, where she gave birth.

Her son, Miles, had meth in his system. He was taken into protective
custody.

She's been fighting to get him back ever since.

Now a patient at the Tulsa Women and Children's Center, a residential
drug treatment program, McClure is allowed to see her son only one
hour a week. She has remained drug-free for about four months and
hopes to regain full custody next year.

It won't be easy.

"There's some days that I just want to do it (meth) so bad, it's
pitiful," McClure said, "but those are the days when I'm down or I'm
feeling sorry for myself because I got my kid taken away."

Meth, which can kill or cause permanent brain damage, creates a
chemical imbalance in users -- leaving them depressed by suppressing
the production of dopamine, a chemical that tells the body when it is
feeling pleasure. Users often take more meth in order to feel "normal."

The rush is seductive, said Christina Blount, 30, another resident at
the center.

"The first time I did it, it made me feel euphoric," Blount said. "I
felt beautiful. I felt lovely. I don't even know how to explain it.
The first feeling of having that, the initial feeling, was awesome.
Every time after that got worse. Emotionally, mentally, spiritually, I
was corrupt."

At times, she said, her addiction meant more to her than anything --
including her children. "I didn't consciously say it," she said. "I
didn't say, 'This hit is more important than my children.' But I had
to have it. I just had to have it. I didn't think about anything else."

By the time she entered treatment in April, Blount said, she had
overdosed, lost custody of her kids and spent time in two mental
institutions. Her weight had dropped to 92 pounds.

"It's a soul snatcher," she said of meth. "It numbs you out from all
your feelings, all your emotions. Inevitably, you become a recluse.
You isolate yourself. It makes you very paranoid. Your teeth fall out.
Your hair falls out. It will make you into a skinny little monster."