METH USE IMPACTS HEALTH

A 1997 Arizona Profile on Drug Strategies stated, "...illicit drugs
threaten the health of individuals who do not even use them. They also add
significantly to...health care costs. Substance abuse is a major factor in
chronic illness, the spread of infectious diseases, hospital emergency room
visits, newborn health problems, violence and auto fatalities."

According to Marshall Medical Center South's Emergency Room (MMCSER)
Manager Ginger Ziegenfus, the afore mentioned health problems associated
with the use of "illicit drugs" continues to grow.

"We are seeing a lot more patients that are under the influence of
methamphetamine."

"The influence," Ziegenfus said, "manifests itself in many different ways.
They (patients) present with a number of different kinds of complaints. And
during the course of the examination we figure out they are also users."

Ziegenfus added, "the discovery of a patient who is addicted to
methamphetamine makes treatment a little more difficult."

"One thing," the emergency room (ER) nurse with nearly 15-years of
experience said, "of great concern to all of us - is when we do identify
somebody as a user, is whether or not there are children in the home."

Because of this type of situation she said, "We are in a lot closer contact
with DHR (Department of Human Resources) than we have ever been in the
past, through our Social Services Department to make sure if there are
children in the home-somebody is looking out for them."

While MMCSER doesn't keep track of the statistics Siengufus's professional
experience leads her to believe, "We are seeing more...than we have in the
past...in the effects it (meth) has in such things as the accident rate.
Every time a 'meth lab' blows up someplace, we have people dropped off with
burns."

Those affected by methamphetamine is not, in her experience, limited to any
specific age group. "It transcends, pretty much, every age group. You tend
to suspect younger people...but there are just as many my age...doing it."

"Originally," she added, "I think it was more a lower socio-economic thing
because it's cheap to make, but it's not that way any more, its on all
levels." The drug knows no age limit either. Siengufus has seen meth
addicted patients as young as "10-years old and as old as 70."

Siengufus felt the trend towards methamphetamine use began about "ten-years
ago and began to increase each year. It is a lot more prevalent now than it
was."

The methamphetamine problem for this veteran nurse "is a very frustrating
problem. People that are addicted to meth are not reasonable people...they
are difficult to treat. It's difficult to get them to tell you what's
actually going on. I would say 'frustrating' is the main emotion that goes on."

Methamphetamine addicts she said "Don't eat. All they want to think about
is the drug. They are more like heroine addicts than anything I have seen
in a long time. They are exhibiting the same kinds of physical things. They
are malnourished. They end up with psychosis because all their thought
processes...everything they do is about...and focused on that drug."

Family relationships mean nothing, "They turn on their families...and steal
from whomever it is they live with and love. It is she said, "a terrible
problem for families to deal with."

Escaping from the deathly grip of methamphetamine is a very difficult process.

One strike against successfully loosening meth's insidious grip is most
users "can't afford the cost of the treatments.

What advice does this woman who has devoted her life in service to others
and observed first hand the devastating effects on individuals and families
of a killer drug called methamphetamine?

"Experimentation with methamphetamine is against everything they should be
doing! One dose...one try can cause you to be addicted to it."

Siengufus further emphasized, "Even to entertain the idea of trying it one
time-it's not worth it. It sucks out your whole life."

"The community, "she said-with the obvious concern of one who has seen the
deadly results engendered by meth's use, "have to understand this is a much
more pervasive problem on this mountain than the people living in this area
like to think it is."