METHAMPHETAMINE RAVAGES SB COUNTY

Deadly Drug's Threat Become Crystal Clear

Methamphetamine has cooked in Santa Barbara County drug laboratories
for decades, yet its current prevalence trumps even the days when
Andy Warhol's cohort Edie Sedgwick made her meth-fueled romps through
Isla Vista's streets.

It is the drug of choice in the county, and accounts for a
significant portion of its crime, particularly in North County. Its
popularity maintains a stronghold in I.V. and at UCSB, and it can
still be found in the homes of 40-year-old dealers on Abrego Road or
in the dorms of 18-year-old freshmen on campus.

Oft ignored and rarely talked about outside of the C.A.S.E.
classroom, the drug has infiltrated the area. In 2005, for instance,
78 percent of drug-related bookings to juvenile hall were for meth,
while more than half of Santa Maria's Drug Court participants who
tested positive for drugs were found to have meth in their system.

Beyond the personal problems related to health and general
well-being, meth causes a headache for the county both for its
financial and social costs. Officials hope to cut the problem off at
the knees, but are finding the eradication - or mere stemming of it -
increasingly complex.

Antifreeze, Drain Cleaner and Kitty Litter

Created by the Japanese a century ago, and used by Kamikazes before
they made their last flights, meth was recently named California's
"drug of choice" by a report from the county's Methamphetamine
Prevention Network Summit. But you don't have to tell Santa Barbara
County officials that; community leaders have been decrying meth's
prevalence for years.

Meth is a stimulant that activates the central nervous system and
drastically increases the amount of dopamine - a neurotransmitter
associated with pleasure, enjoyment, and positive reinforcement - in
the brain. And thanks to that jolt of euphoric dopamine, meth is more
addictive than many other drugs.

"The sensation of anything by comparison - pleasurable sex or easy
money - is dwarfed by the amount of dopamine meth releases into the
brain," said John Doyel, the treatment coordinator for Santa Barbara
Alcohol, Drug & Mental Health Services. "It is more addicting than
alcohol or marijuana."

Crystal meth appeals to all sorts of people, from the
weight-conscious woman who uses the drug to curb her appetite to the
student who uses it as a study aid to the curious preteen, Doyel said.

"It is a culturally synchronic pandemic that fits in beautifully with
American society, as it appeals to things we value, like optimism," Doyel said.

What's more, anyone can brew methamphetamines with a mixture of
household items, including detergents, cold medicines and kitty
litter. And addicts can get high almost any way they please: Meth can
be injected, inhaled, or ingested. Of course, purchasing it isn't
that difficult either: a few doses run for about $20.

In the short term, meth can induce irritability, insomnia, confusion,
tremors, convulsions, cardiovascular collapse or even death. Meth
users also often develop "meth mouth," in which their teeth rot out
of their head as a result of the drug and the user's poor dental
habits and the consumption of sugary drinks, which users crave on
binges. Even if a user quits the habit, he or she is still subject to
a slew of long-term effects, including vitamin and mineral
deficiencies, lowered resistance to disease and organ damage to the
lungs, liver and kidneys.

But then, the user isn't the only one who suffers. Families in Santa
Barbara have been torn apart over the drug; about half of the 300
child out-of-home placements as of July 1, 2006 were done so as a
result of abuse or neglect resulting from a parent's meth use.

Some I.V. residents have noticed the influx of the drug into their
beachside town. In a report given to the Santa Barbara County Board
of Supervisors, former UCSB student Shanna McGuiness said she had
seen the drug - and its effects - in I.V.

"I have recently heard that meth has been circulating in I.V., and I
am hoping that it does not become the new trend, because I have seen
the effects it can have on families," she said. "It's disturbing to
know that this is the drug people in California are using, because it
has the potential to be more harmful than other things."

Meth and U(niversities)

Because of meth's widespread appeal - and the "Superman" feeling
associated with it - meth addiction has spread like a weed in
California, which the National Institute on Drug Abuse said has one
of the highest rates of meth usage.

Colleges are a hotbed for meth usage, Doyel said.

"This is a drug that has always been a problem in California; they
used to deal it everywhere up at Stanford because kids used it to
study harder," he said. "There is still an old speed limit sign
posted up on frat row that says 'Speed, $5 a hit.'"

Although UCSB Alcohol & Drug Program assistant director Al Rodriguez
described the typical meth user in the Santa Barbara area as "a young
adult, typically male, unemployed and from North County," the issue
hit close to home last year when university officials discovered a
meth lab inside a residence hall room, after the two occupants had
been kicked out of the university due to low GPAs.

A former neighbor of the dorm room meth producers, who wishes to
remain anonymous, said although he knew his neighbors dealt drugs
from time to time, he had no idea that people in the building were
involved in the production of crystal meth.

"I knew they experimented with a lot of stuff, but didn't know about
the lab until they got kicked out of school," he said. "Every new
drug was a new story. I was never home at the same time as them, so I
didn't know them very well, but they told me they had used meth once
or twice and said it was kind of crazy...

"I knew a lot of people who used meth last year but never thought it
was a problem," he said. From observing his neighbors' use, he said
he could tell the drug "is really addictive and makes people really
awake and really hyper."

The student said it was somewhat frightening that no one would have
known about the existence of the on-campus lab if the pair had not
been kicked out.

Other students reacted similarly upon hearing about last year's incident.

"It really scares me that something like this could have happened on
this campus , because I had no idea that a crystal meth lab could
have been next door to me," said Sandra Stokes, a second year
linguistics major. "I had no idea that meth was a problem in this
area, let alone on our campus."

A Santa Maria Export?

But outside Isla Vista and UCSB's domain, the problem is not nearly
as hidden. According to 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray, crystal
meth has created a "crisis" and is a "burden for the county because
of the way it destroys peoples' lives."

In certain parts of Santa Barbara County - particularly North County
and the Santa Maria area - Gray said meth helps contribute to high
levels of violent behavior and abuse, in addition to the overcrowding
of county jails.

According to a January 2007 county report, meth use has mushroomed in
a relatively short span of time; in 2001, 19 percent of patients in
county drug treatment programs claimed meth as their primary drug,
but in 2006 this increased to 31 percent, making it the drug of
choice in Santa Barbara County.

Currently, about 55 percent of Drug Court participants in Santa Maria
who tested positive for drug use were found to be on meth; in Lompoc
- - a possible location for a new detox program site - the statistic is
42 percent, while in Santa Barbara it is 33 percent.

"It destroys families because parents lose their sense of right or
wrong," Gray said.

Gray recalled an incident involving two parents who accidentally
killed their child while under the influence of crystal meth.

"They literally rolled over [in bed] and suffocated their own child
while sleeping," Gray said.

Apparently the tragedy is not entirely unheard of. Last March, Lompoc
resident Jason Gomez rolled over on his infant twins and suffocated
them to death while under the influence of methamphetamines.

Kelly Rodriguez, a recovered meth abuser, told the Methamphetamine
Prevention Network Summit that the drug practically ruined her life:
She lost her children, went to jail and became homeless.

"Using meth was the most self-destructive thing I've ever done,"
Rodriguez said.

Biting Back At "Meth Mouth"

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is currently looking
for a solution to the meth "epidemic." The Methamphetamine Prevention
Network Summit's report painted a dour picture of the current resources.

"Services were being strained and circumstances such as county jail
over-crowding, waiting lists for detoxification and overwhelming
caseload for child welfare services were attributed to meth abuse,"
the report states.

One possible new approach, highlighted in the report to the board, is
a project called "From 'Me' to 'We.'"

"It's a new benchmark for bringing together a broad-based coalition
of public and private agencies, organizations and other stakeholders
to fight the impact of methamphetamine," Gray said of the program.

The "broad-based coalition" aims to bolster its ranks with forums
held throughout the spring to get the public support and to create
more strategies for combating the problem.

Others note the answer isn't an easy one. Regardless, Rodriguez of
the UCSB Alcohol & Drug Program said the meth problem in the county
needs to be proactively addressed.

"Our collective approach to our meth problem needs rethinking," he said.

- -David Ferry and Dana Olsen contributed to this report