MAMA MAKING HEADWAY

Group Offers Christian Response To Drug Problem

Mary Holley's brother, Jim, was 22 years old when he got hooked on crystal
meth.

"He was trying to impress his girlfriend, show her what a man he was, and
he was never the same after that first hit," Holley said.

He couldn't keep a job, lost his apartment and moved back in with their mother.

He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and doctors put him on medication.

"He wouldn't go to drug rehab," Holley said. "He thought he didn't need it."

He shot and killed himself two years later.

As a sister, Holley was devastated. As a physician, Holley set out,
scientifically, to find out about the drug that destroyed her brother's life.

"What I found out appalls me," she said. "Science knows how methamphetamine
works. We know what it does to the chemistry in the brain."

Holley, an obstetrician and gynecologist with offices in Marshall County,
took what she learned, developed literature and started teaching the
dangers of meth in jails, juvenile probation, rehab centers and other
places where those who are addicted to meth might be reached. This was done
after the hours of her medical practice, on her own time.

As more people asked for help and information, the course became more
comprehensive to include all drugs of abuse, including cocaine, heroin and
ecstasy.

Holley has developed three booklets. One is aimed at the addict or inmate
and is called Red Devil Lye. Another is intended for public school use and
is called Meth Death. The third is directed at junior and senior high youth
groups in church settings and includes a Christ-centered approach to
resisting and recovering from addiction, she said.

The full course is published as a workbook and videotape called "Power Over
Addiction." Some of the writings are being used in jails throughout the
nation, she said.

Earlier this year, Mothers Against Methamphetamine, called MAMA, was
started by Holley as a means of distributing the literature she has written
to educate the public about methamphetamine and other drugs.

The non-profit organization, separate from Holley's medical practice, has
an office at 104 W. Alabama Ave., Suite S., Albertville. MAMA deals only
with education and does not have rehab programs, she said.

"MAMA offers a Christian response to the drug problem that seems so
overwhelming to us," she said. "Jesus Christ does have power over
addiction, and we can teach the hurting people around us to know him and
love him."

Holley said the mission of the group is to glorify God by providing
competent and compassionate drug education and rehabilitation resources
that reflect the mercy of Jesus Christ for the addict, the family of the
addict and the community.

The ministry also has some help with fund raising so that more information
can be shared, she said.

An inmate Holley spoke to last year is an artist, who hitchhiked to
Holley's medical office and gave her a portfolio of pictures he had drawn.
He signed the copyrights to her. He drew the illustrations for her
booklets, which were being planned.

"Paul Rogers is an artist with a heart for the addict and a love for Jesus
Christ," she said.

The pictures have been made into a series of posters and T-shirts that are
being used for fund-raising projects. The material is offered to Christian
ministries and church youth groups at wholesale prices so that money can be
raised for their own ministries.

"And at the same time, reach people with the good news of the mercy of
Jesus Christ for the addict and his family," she said.

Even after the time Holley has done research, worked on the literature and
started MAMA, she still is shocked at the affects of meth.

Holley's brother was at a party where a guy died and her brother thought he
would be framed for the murder of the guy because his handprint was on a
flask in the guy's lab.

"He thought they were going to throw him in jail and the other inmates
would rape him every day for the rest of his life," she said. "He wanted to
run away to Mexico. Mom brought him to my house instead."

He lived with Holley for a year and eventually got better and became less
paranoid and anxious, started eating better and sleeping better.

"We let him get a job at a nearby factory," she said.

His first day on his new job he met a dealer. "He started using again and
getting crazy again," Holley said. "He heard Satan speaking through my
2-year-old. He got in trouble with the law and the night before his court
date, he skipped town and went back to my mother's house."

He made a suicide attempt and they put him in the hospital, but he could
only be kept for the 72-hour emergency commitment, Holley said.

"After that he had to sign the papers to stay," she said. "He wouldn't sign
those papers."

Her brother believed the drug dealers were in the hospital and they could
read his mind. He believed they were going to kill him.

Three weeks after he got out of the hospital, he found a gun at an uncle's
house and shot himself in the head on July 4, 2000. He was 24 years old,
she said.

"We need to come together as a Christian community to bring help and
healing to families that are devastated by drug abuse in all its forms, but
a special effort is needed in the case of crystal methamphetamine," she
said. "It is so potent and so dangerous; we can't wait until somebody else
does it for us. Our community will be destroyed by this drug while we're
waiting."