SPEAKER: METH ADDICTS SUFFER BRAIN DISEASE

CLINTON -- When Dr. Mary Holley's brother Jim was just 22 years old,
he would start using a drug that would take hold of him and his
brain, causing Jim to go through constant fits of paranoia, psychosis
and schizophrenia that would result in him taking his own life a mere
two years later. That drug was methamphetamine, a substance that is
infecting communities across the country, destroying the lives of
users and their families in its wake.

Now a renowned expert in the field of meth, Holley made a visit to
Sampson County this week to share her story and discuss the affects
of the drugs in an effort to bring about awareness by everyone, and
offer solutions to the problem. Meth addicts suffer from a brain
disease and no longer function by themselves, with meth controlling
them and eating away at their brain, Holley said.

"My brother Jim was 22 years old when he started, and he died at 24,"
she said. "It's a bad movie, but you can't turn it off. It's a
nightmare, but you don't wake up."

A practicing OBGYN in Alabama for 15 years, Holley closed her
practice in 2005 to devote herself fully to MAMA. After losing her
brother to crystal methamphetamine in July 2000, she spent a great
deal of her time researching meth from a variety of different
viewpoints -- as a physician, a scientist and as a surviving family member.

During that research, Holley found that the drug eats at the brain
and causes addiction, often against the user's will.

"My brother said 'that drug is messing with my brain, I've got brain
damage,'" Holley recalled. Like many others confronted with the same
problem, Holley told him to get off the drug and get a hold of himself.

It was years later, when she was reading through one of many research
studies on meth, that she would come to a realization that would make her sick.

"He really did have brain damage and that was caused by the drug,"
said Holley, founder and director of Mothers Against Meth-Amphetamine
(MAMA). "When I saw that paper, I got sick. It made me vomit."

Holley's trip to Sampson County culminated with a seminar Wednesday
to about 100 people at the Agri-Exposition Center. Holley offered a
similar presentation on Tuesday, as well as talking to Hobbton High
School students and officials and medical personnel at Sampson
Regional Medical Center in talks that were specifically tailored to them.

Sarah Bradshaw, director for the Department of Social Services and
member of the Sampson County Methamphetamine Task Force, said
Holley's visit was a tremendous success, building on the foundation
that the Task Force has established and further bringing the
community together as a whole.

"I've been to every one of these," said Bradshaw, following
Wednesday's three-hour seminar at the civic center. "They were
absolutely a success for our community."

While a meth summit last year focused mostly on law enforcement's
role in battling the problem of methamphetamine, Holley's visit
expanded on the devastating effects of the drug and the fact that it
is everyone's responsibility in helping to combat its use and what
results from it.

"This goes to the next level," Bradshaw said, "and that is the
response and reaction to this disease."

And, as Holley implored, it is not a problem for one person, or one
family, or one specific agency. It is a problem in which everyone is
involved and, thus, one that needs solutions that everyone works toward.

"You thought you chose to (meth) again, you thought you wanted to do
it again," Holley said. "You didn't choose it, it chose you."

And the effects of the drug are devastating to say the least, taking
control of its user, many times until that person is dead.

"This guy can tell you this drug is evil and then go out and use it
the first time he gets the chance," said Holley. "The addict is going
to break your heart. No matter how bad it gets, no matter what
happens, keep praying for that kid."

Holley said that tough love is often what needs to be used in the
response to a user. Often, they need to hit rock bottom before they seek help.

"You can't pray with one hand and give him $50 with the other, it
doesn't work that way," she said. "Every time you give that kid $100,
you're putting another hole in his brain. Do the tough love you have
to do to save that kid's life."

Even when faced with a possible meth addict, it is not the end.
Although the recovery rate is low, the brain disease can be cured in time.

"Even after the kid is hooked on methamphetamine, all is not lost,"
said Holley. "It hurts so bad to get off this stuff, until it hurts
worse to keep using."

Keep reading The Sampson Independent for more articles on solutions
Holley offered during her visit to Sampson County and reaction from
the community as to the problem of meth.