MORE THAN JAIL NEEDED TO FIGHT METH

After two hours of often intense and emotional discussion, they reached an
agreement. It's going to take more than additional jail time, laws or money
to beat the methamphetamine problem in Oklahoma.

It's going to take community involvement and a completely holistic approach.

The meeting, one of 16 being held across the 2nd Congressional District,
was designed for members of Congressman Brad Carson's staff to get
community input about the problems people see with methamphetamine in their
area. The meeting was attended by a wide range of people, from an
elementary school student to silver-haired grandmothers. Officers from the
Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department, District 16 Narcotics Task Force,
Drug Enforcement Agency, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drug
Control and Kiowa Police Department were on hand during the meeting.

The methamphetamine problem, Theresa McFarland insisted, "is not their
fault. These guys are doing their jobs.

"I read it in the paper all the time. These guys are fantastic."

However, said Mike Taylor, who identified himself as a former drug addict,
"All the laws in the world, all the officers in the world, ain't going to
stop it."

Instead, Taylor said, addicts who want to quit the drug need a place they
can go 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to talk to other recovering
addicts. "If you can talk to someone when you're down, when you really need
that fix, you can get over the feeling."

Pam and Andy Wood, with Break Free Ministries, also said a building such as
Taylor described could be beneficial. "We need some place people who want
help can go before they get into treatment or after they come out," Pam
Wood said. "The treatment centers are full. You have to wait for a bed."

JoAnn Fox, mayor of the Okmulgee County town of Grayson, said a series of
such centers across the state would probably be a great help in curbing the
methamphetamine problem. "You could put one in a place that's within a
30-minute or hour drive of five or six communities," she said.

However, a task force agent noted, "You've got to want to stop."

"We should not be calling methamphetamine a drug," former sheriff Benny
Durant said. "We should be calling it a poison."

People who use methamphetamine need to realize they really have only one of
three choices once they start using it, Durant said. "You're going to find
God and be saved by Him, you're going to go to prison or you're going to
die at an early age."

When he was sheriff, Durant said, he started a program which had
methamphetamine addicts talking to other addicts. "It worked, but I
couldn't get any funding for that" since "the political mentality is just
lock them up."

Meeting attendees also agreed drug awareness education needs to start
earlier in school and that the entire community needs to get involved.

"It's going to take a grassroots effort," said Miller Newman. "A holistic
approach."