NATIONAL GUARD TACKLES 'METH' EDUCATION

Anyone who has read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
will remember a scary dish called 'Turkish Delight.' It was food so
delicious that the eater would continue to eat and eat and eat ... until he
died.

Turkish Delight in the real world is called methamphetamine and it has
eclipsed marijuana as the most popular drug in the US, has passed cocaine
as the most dangerous and has put youngsters throughout the US at risk.

"Of all the users nationwide of methamphetamine, 53 percent are under the
age of 15," said Cpl. Michael King of the Tennessee National Guard in
Cookeville.

King is in the Counter Drug Force Division of the Guard and works with
communities and law enforcement agencies to both eradicate drugs and
educate the public to the dangers of drug use.

The National Guard has several anti-drug programs that can fit into the
school schedule such as "Be Like Me," a mentoring program in elementary
school, and 'Ropes' -- a program of exercises that foster trust in
friendship. In addition, the Guard makes presentations to schools,
organizations and businesses. It even has a display trailer to take on the
road.

The programs are supported by a grant from Drug Enforcement Agency in
Washington.

The Counter Drug Force Division members are trying to reach as many people
as possible with a simple message -- 'Methamphetamine Kills.'

"Peer pressure is the biggest problem," King said. "Because the first time
user usually gets a tremendous high, the drug can capture users after only
one time. If kids fall prey to friends wanting them to 'party,' that can be
tremendously dangerous.

"Once you start, it is hard to stop. It has one of the lowest
rehabilitation rates of any drug because it's so addictive mentally and
physically.

King called it a drug "without prejudice -- it doesn't care if you're in
the low, middle or upper class," he said. "It has addicts who range from
extremely young to grandparents."

And once someone becomes addicted, they don't care about anything else.

"Parenting stops," King said. "Kids no longer matter. Parents don't even
think about their children. In Tennessee it's a felony to manufacture meth
and parents are considered to be child abusers if they are involved in the
manufacture of the drug."

One of the reasons that parents forget about or are dangerous around their
children is that a side-effect of methamphetamine use is hallucinations.

"We have a video of a user who is convinced that he's being attacked by
black helicopters -- each about one inch high," King said.

Meth is so powerful a user will be unable to sleep for up to 16 days, when
he or she will then 'crash' for one to three days. People lose their
appetites with the drug, so some people have gotten addicted in an attempt
to lose weight.

"So people who want to party, people who need to stay awake are most at
risk," he said.

Coming down from a meth 'high' often results in violence as the user
becomes desperate for more of the drug.

"There is no peaceful withdrawal," King said.

Users become so desperate for another 'fix' when they 'come down' from a
high that they've been known to suck at sores on their body for the bit of
meth that might be there.

"Symptoms include paranoia, figetiness, body shakes, and terrible
depression -- to a point where a user can become suicidal. Meth depletes
the body of dopamine, a chemical in the brain that produces happy feelings.

"We don't know yet if the body will reproduce dopamine. Right now
scientists think the body has a stored surplus of dopamine that lasts a
lifetime. Meth tricks the body into using up that supply."

King said that how soon one becomes addicted to methamphetamine depends on
the make-up of one's body. "It will take anywhere from one time to two
weeks of use," he said.

Meth does more than create hallucinations. It also destroys one's body,
eating away at the brain, liver, kidneys and lungs.

"The body ends up cannibalizing itself," King said.

"Addicts are only expected to live five or six years after they start using
methamphetamine."

For people in Putnam County, the threat is pretty close.

"Putnam County has one of the larger drug cultures," King said. "Especially
because it's a college town. It's known to be doing a high traffic in drugs.

"And there are counties in Middle Tennessee that are some of the leading
manufacturers of meth in the US. Grundy County, for instance, is considered
the eighth largest producer," he said.

King hopes to educate people sufficiently to stop them from ever gambling
with a drug that has such disastrous and immediate consequences. By working
with kids, he hopes to help grown-ups.

"This information may be enough to stop kids from starting drug use," King
said. "But it's not our job to teach kids to 'just say no.' We're simply
educating them about what drug use will do to them.

"We'll leave the other to teachers, counselors and parents. We actually
hope that kids will talk about the program enough to get parents to think
about the problem."