A LESSON FOR METH SUMMIT

A summit on the state's growing methamphetamine problem will be in
August in Atlanta and more than 200 federal, state and local officials
are expected to attend.

"The goal is to come up with a plan of action that communities can
adopt to identify the problem and what they can do to combat it," said
Donna Dixon, vice president of the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse,
which is hosting the summit along with Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Sadly, law enforcement officials and others here have already
identified the problem, and law enforcement personnel are doing the
best they can to combat it.

From experience we know that the problems presented by methamphetamine
and other addictive drugs won't be solved by summits, studies,
committees or bureaucracies.

They have to be dealt with on a day-by-day basis by members of
individual agencies who are on the front line, often using such
innovative programs as the Conasauga Judicial Circuit's Drug Court.

The Drug Court, which serves Whitfield and Murray counties, recently
observed its second anniversary with the graduation of three
individuals, and most of the participants in that program are involved
in some way with methamphetamine, officials said.

Coordinator George Shirilla says the program, which tries to give
participants the skills to avoid drug use, is a community effort that
involves the courts, law enforcement, probation officials, drug and
alcohol treatment centers, and employers.

Despite concerns about the bureaucracies inherent in such summits, it
is still a good idea for law enforcement officials from all areas to
come together to look at options and compare notes on what approaches
may work best in their communities, such as the collective effort in
Whitfield and Murray counties to deal with the harrowing realities of
methamphetamine and other drugs through the Drug Court.