Series: 9 Of 10

METH'S MISERY

Meth Addiction Affects Many In County

Today's News-Review features the conclusion of "Meth's Misery," a
four-part series focusing on Douglas County's most troubling addiction.

News-Review crime reporter Christian Bringhurst spent more than three
months working on the series, and came up with some fascinating and
heartbreaking information about methamphetamine's impact.

He talked with former addicts, with the men and women of law
enforcement fighting the problem, with counselors and family members
wounded by a loved one's struggles.

He came away with a harrowing portrait of meth's grip on Douglas
County. It's easy for the unaffected to write off meth addicts. But
the reporting reminds us that every addict has a family, and many have
children.

The statistics tell a good part of the story: Children are present in
one of four cases of meth labs being busted and must be put in the
state's care. Meth has been identified as a contributing factor in
crimes such as homicide, assault and robbery, as well as burglary,
forgery and fraud.

Our reporting is just a snapshot of a problem affecting
hundreds.

We're all paying the cost.

What have we learned?

Meth ruins lives. It ruins families and friendships, careers and, if
allowed, can be an even greater scourge on the Douglas County that we
know and love.

The problem is not unique to here. It has swept across rural America.
However, it has hit Douglas County hard because of its low cost and
ease of manufacture in rural settings.

Meth addiction is a battle that must be fought on many fronts. Besides
the police, it requires families, friends, and support from community
organizations and religious groups.

Bigger still is education's role in breaking the meth cycle. As
today's front page story reports, drug use too often gets its start in
schoolchildren. It's time to look at traditional methods of fighting
drugs and re-evaluate them and then see they are funded. Taking
creative approaches to the problem, one of the Baily Day Foundation's
goals, may be a valuable weapon.

Funds that fight meth will only help Oregon in the long run.
Prevention will certainly cost less than the costs of reacting to addiction.

We salute the hard work of the county's law enforcement officers and
justice system in trying to shut off supplies, rounding up those
caught using or committing crimes to fund their addiction, and
funneling them to treatment where possible.

Gov. Ted. Kulongoski's creation of a new Meth Task Force, announced
earlier this month, is a step in a good direction. The group will meet
early next year to craft a plan of a wider attack on meth.

But this is clearly a job bigger than the government alone can
handle.

We encourage our readers to let us know what they thought of the
"Meth's Misery" series and their ideas about how to fight Douglas
County's growing epidemic. We'll try to print as much as we can on the
Opinion page in coming weeks.