METH USERS ENDANGER CHILDREN

The victims of the drug suffer brain damage, blindness and breathing
difficulties. Their families are torn apart, and they struggle with
long-term emotional issues.

They sustain permanent injuries and may even lose their lives to explosions
and fires spurred by the unstable process required to make the drug.

But they don't make the drug, don't buy the drug and don't even take it.
They are children, and state officials say they are the most tragic victims
of the highly addictive drug methamphetamine.

A 7-year-old Claremore boy became the unfortunate poster child in September.

The boy returned home from a fishing trip and went to the refrigerator for
a drink of water.

What he got instead were serious burns to his lips, tongue and esophagus.

The boy drank lye, a corrosive substance used mainly in making soap.

Authorities have charged his mother, saying the lye was going to be used to
make methamphetamine.

The boy's case is a common story for child welfare officials in Oklahoma,
who daily see injury and neglect.

"Parents that are addicted to methamphetamine, they have other priorities
in their life," said Esther Rider-Salem, Child Protective Services program
manager for the state Department of Human Services. "The basic care of
their children is not a priority."

Rider-Salem said her agency has seen children burned and killed by
methamphetamine lab fires and blinded by lingering chemicals.

Kyle McGraw, director of substance abuse services for DHS, compared the
effects of living in a methamphetamine lab with living in a "toxic waste dump."

Dr. Hal Vorse, an Oklahoma City physician who served in pediatrics for
nearly 30 years, said he's seen cases of infants ingesting methamphetamine.

"They had dropped some crystals on the floor, and the kid ate them and had
a seizure," Vorse said.

"He had a toxic level of methamphetamine in his system."

Rider-Salem said she's seen all the physical injuries and the emotional
ones that result from taking a child away from a methamphetamine-addicted
parent.

"Removal of a child under any circumstances, including methamphetamine, it
is very emotionally traumatic," she said. Rider-Salem said children taken
from methamphetamine lab homes aren't allowed to take their favorite toys
or any clothing because of contamination problems. They leave their home
with nothing, she said.

Vorse said the emotional toll can be devastating, and can result in
post-traumatic stress disorder.

Rider-Salem said child development is affected when children are raised by
methamphetamine makers and users and must be taken out of the home.

She said the timetables for a user's recovery and a child's development are
very different.

"We really run into two clocks that don't coincide, and it's a very
difficult decision," she said. "The chances of a parent truly being able to
recover and to provide their child with a safe environment sometimes is a
balance that we have to weigh, and we're going to have to weigh on the side
of the child."

Vorse characterized it as a no-win situation for children.

"How can somebody parent properly if they're using meth?" he asked. "Even
if there's not physical abuse, there's a lot of emotional trauma that goes
along with it."

U.S. Attorney Robert McCampbell has won convictions in nearly two dozen
methamphetamine-related cases. He said worse than seeing people addicted to
the drug or sent to prison is the effect on children.

"There's case after case of children being contaminated, children being
exposed to toxic waste," he said. "The kids have no choice in the matter.
They're just kids."