DEA OFFICIAL TO SPEAK AT STATE METHAMPHETAMINE SUMMIT IN
VANCOUVER

James S. Mavromatis, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official
who runs a national clearinghouse of data on methamphetamine
manufacture and trafficking, will be a featured speaker at the third
annual Washington State Meth Summit next week in Vancouver.

Mavromatis oversees the Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System, which
helps drug enforcement officers in Clark County and around the nation
track methamphetamine manufacturers and traffickers wherever they
operate. He is a special agent in charge of the El Paso Intelligence
Center (EPIC), the DEA's 15-agency effort to collect and disseminate
information concerning illicit drug trafficking and other criminal
activities, especially along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Last year, Washington recorded the third-highest number of meth
incidents of any state, 1,420, behind only Missouri and California.

Though some of the methamphetamine that ends up in the Pacific
Northwest comes across the Mexican border, meth remains primarily a
homegrown drug product, Mavromatis said in an interview.

"Meth has always been primarily a domestic manufacturing problem," he
said. "It's only in the past decade, with the pressure on precursor
chemicals, that we have seen the manufacturing move to Mexico and
Canada." Precursor chemicals are those such as pseudoephedrine-based
cold pills that are used in the manufacture of meth.

The Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System is a repository of
information from six regional information networks across the nation
about police seizures of meth labs, chemicals, lab equipment and dump
sites. Local police agencies use it as an investigative tool because
it allows them to track whether suspects have been arrested for
meth-related crimes elsewhere and, if so, what types of chemicals and
processes to look for.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. Tom Zweiger, chairman of the meth summit
organizing committee, said Vancouver was a logical place to hold the
third statewide gathering. The first was in Bellevue, the second in
Spokane. Clark County formed its own meth action team last year.

"There's a tremendous methamphetamine problem in Southwest
Washington," Zweiger said. "About 75 percent of all the drug-related
criminal cases submitted to Washington state crime labs from Southwest
Washington involve methamphetamine."

The summit is a project of the Washington State Meth Initiative, a
program that uses federal and state funds to address the state's
burgeoning meth trafficking and meth addiction problem. Zweiger said
the initiative has paid for training more than 5,000 Washington
residents in how to recognize evidence of meth labs and meth dump
sites and symptoms of meth abuse.

The summit begins the evening of Sept. 15 and runs through Sept. 17 at
the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay in Vancouver. Mavromatis will speak at
9:20 a.m. Tuesday.

The event is expected to draw 400 professionals involved in drug
enforcement, treatment and prevention to hear state, national and
international experts address the challenges of combatting the state's
methamphetamine epidemic.

Registration is $15; members of the public may register on a
space-available basis.

Featured speakers

Other featured speakers include:

* Jorge Medrazo-Cuellar, consul general of Mexico at the Mexican
Consulate in Seattle, 7:30 p.m. Monday.

* Richard Gebelein, vice chairman of the National Association of Drug
Court Professionals, 8:55 a.m. Tuesday.

* Dave Rodriguez, director of the Northwest High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Agency, 9:45 a.m. Tuesday.

* Jason Moulton, national director of loss prevention for Safeway
stores, 12:40 p.m. Tuesday.

* Jim Copple, director of Policy Analysis and Training at the Pacific
Institute for Research and Evaluation, 8:15 a.m. Wednesday.

* Beverly Watts-Davis, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 8:35 a.m. Wednesday.

State and local officials, including Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and state Sen.
Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, sponsor of mobile meth lab legislation in the
2003 Legislature, also will speak.

Recovering meth addicts invited to forum

Recovering methamphetamine addicts and their families and friends are
invited to a community forum, "Life After Meth," on Tuesday, Sept. 16,
from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay.

The free event, sponsored by the Clark County Substance Abuse Advisory
Board and the county Alcohol and Drug Program, is being held in
conjunction with the third annual Washington Methamphetamine Summit.

The recovery forum will focus on methamphetamine use, addiction and
recovery. Employers, educators, faith leaders and social service and
health care professionals are encouraged to attend. Keynote speaker
Sheryl Smith, intervention specialist for the Vancouver School
District, will discuss the effects of meth addiction on individuals,
families and the community. Jody Howell, a volunteer with the county
health department's Peer Advocate Prevention Education Program, will
describe his street outreach work with gay and bisexual men who use
methamphetamines.

A panel representing young people, law enforcement officers, health
care and treatment providers and the recovery community will share
perspectives and answer questions.

The community forum, held for the first time last year, is an effort
"to educate the public that recovery is possible and to put a face on
recovery," said Barbara Gerrior, coordinator of the county's alcohol
and drug programs and a recovering meth addict herself.

"Let's bring recovery out into the open, and then people won't have to
worry about losing contracts, losing jobs, losing homes," she said.
"Recovery has always been anonymous, but anonymity has kept community
awareness in the dark."

An original music composition, written by Daniel Hart, coordinator of
the Clark County Meth Action Team and performed by students from the
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, the Cascade Middle School
choir and the county Youth Meth Action Team, will close the event.