HOW TO FIGHT METH IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Residents Learn Ways To Stop Spread

Most people come across methamphetamine in one of two ways: The drug is
brought into a neighborhood by strangers, or it addicts a friend or loved
one.

Once it worms its way into your life, meth is hard to get rid of.

A stimulant that is highly addictive, meth has an intense, highly pleasing
rush that can last up to 24 hours. Meth is widely available because it is
cheap and easy to manufacture.

Law enforcement has been overwhelmed by meth's spread since the early 1990s.
Concern has reached a critical stage in Snohomish County.

The Herald focused on meth's impact on the county in a weeklong series of
stories a year ago, and in September featured the efforts of Susan York and
a group she helped organize in Mukilteo that successfully drove a meth house
from its neighborhood.

National media including The New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine also
have visited the county to see what's going on.

Since then, anti-drug community coalitions and neighborhood watch groups
have formed in Granite Falls and Marysville. Last month, almost 1,000 people
assailed police and educators at a town hall meeting about meth in Granite
Falls.

They wanted to know what they could do to fight meth's influence in their
community. Many left the meeting wanting more information, which they could
refer to when they didn't know where to turn. Snohomish County Sheriff Rick
Bart said he was frustrated he didn't have anything to give people.

Bart's department is now teaming with York's group, now called Lead on
America. The group of neighborhood activists from south Snohomish County is
credited with helping shut down four meth houses. With county funding, Lead
on America is preparing a six-page packet to help communities confront meth
problems.

If you want to start a neighborhood watch group, or you know someone who
might be addicted to meth, the packet is designed to steer people to local
organizations that can help.

If Meth Is In Your Neighborhood

You and your neighbors might suspect that a house in your neighborhood is
cooking and selling methamphetamine. But what can you do about it?

A group of more than 30 neighbors near Granite Falls asked those same
questions, so Pat Slack, commander of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task
Force, and a team from Lead on America went there to help them organize a
neighborhood watch group.

Lead on America's tactics are blunt and direct: The group tries to force the
tenants of a meth house to leave the neighborhood.

The experts gave the Granite Falls group a number of tips designed to keep
law enforcement aware of activity at the house and force the tenants or
owners to move out or sell.

How To Spot A Meth House

Meth can be a rude neighbor. Manufacturing the drug requires cooking a
highly toxic stew of ingredients that can poison nearby wells and render the
labs (typically houses, trailers or vehicles) uninhabitable without
expensive cleanup.

A house with addicts usually involves some meth manufacturing, Slack said,
and often leads to at least low-level drug dealing.

York's group identified signs of meth activity, including:

* Discarded packaging of ingredients used to cook meth: cold medicine,
stove fuel, paint thinner and chemicals from feed stores or pool supply
companies.

* Discarded beakers, test tubes and glass containers.

* Excessive amounts of unusual garbage.

A meth house often attracts a large amount of traffic to a neighborhood.
That traffic often brings with it an increase in crime, usually thefts or
burglaries to help addicts pay for their habit.

More extreme signs include gunfire and domestic violence, York said.

One of the Granite Falls neighbors, Tom Melcher, emphasized not to rush to
judgment. Suspected meth activity may turn out to be only a rumor, he said,
and perhaps nothing illegal is going on after all at the house. Police say
they don't want vigilante groups forming that would take away from the
effort to fight the drug.

Verify By Working With Police

That's why documentation is important. The Lead on America group was
initially frustrated when Slack told them their neighborhood meth house
wasn't big enough to warrant the task force's attention.

But then they realized they didn't know much about what went on in that
house, and they decided to find out.

Scott McNinch of Lead on America told the Granite Falls group that his
Meadowdale neighborhood first noticed a boost in crime before it realized
the extent of the extra traffic going to the suspected meth house.

"One neighbor got ripped off eight times in one summer," McNinch said,
adding that his own home was hit three times.

He advised the Granite Falls group to start a neighborhood activity log to
help police get information that could lead to arrests.

One arrest is rarely the end of the story. Only the most serious offenders
get much jail time, Slack said. But with persistence, an accumulation of
arrests might succeed in closing down a meth house. The tenants eventually
either get a long jail sentence or move out.

To achieve that, allegations of criminal activity need to be backed up with
evidence. This is where neighbors can help police, York said.

"It's important to remember when working with law enforcement, you are their
eyes and ears," York said. "You are their best weapon."

Compile An Activity Log

The idea of the activity log is to track traffic visiting the suspected meth
house.

Neighbors set up watch times and can use binoculars from unobtrusive
locations to record the makes, models, license plate numbers and colors of
cars; the descriptions of drivers, passengers and numbers of occupants; and
the times of day.

Knowing the exact address of the house and the identities of the tenants is
crucial, too.

Setting up an activity log provides a reliable documentation process in case
any observable criminal activity occurs.

McNinch and Tina Haggett, also from his Meadowdale neighborhood, said the
log eventually revealed that the meth house was being visited by up to 20
cars per hour.

"In less than six months, we recorded 326 different license plates," Haggett
said.

But to find out, the neighbors had to change their sleeping habits.

"We didn't know it was that busy until we chose to stay up from 1 to 4 in
the morning," McNinch said.

They learned a lot of tips that other neighborhood watch groups might find
helpful: Thursday was a busy day, as meth customers stocked up for weekend
parties, and the pizza man wasn't necessarily delivering pizza.

The meth house found surreptitious ways to signal that it was open for
business. Flying a green flag or turning on a green light would mean come
in, while a red flag or red light would mean stay away.

The neighbors learned that the meth house monitored cell phones with
scanners, and the residents set up "bionic ear" microphones to listen to
outside conversations or alert themselves to cars entering the property.

Consult Other Public Agencies

The group devised strategies involving other public agencies that might lead
to the house's tenants leaving or being evicted.

If children are living at the house and neighbors see evidence of abuse or
neglect, they were advised to call Child Protective Services. Meth addicts
sometimes fail to provide protection for their kids from the harmful fumes
associated with cooking the drug, Slack said.

If meth manufacturing is suspected, York's group advised alerting the
Snohomish Health District because of the potential of poisoning nearby water
sources or exposing the neighborhood to toxic garbage or fumes.

They also said to call county or city planning departments if any land-use
violations are observed. Calling landlords or mortgage companies might lead
to some kind of resolution as well, they said.

One Critical Shortcoming

York recognized that her group's approach had one critical shortcoming:

"People tell me, 'Well, now that your drug house is out of the way, the
problem is gone,' " York said. "No. It's just moved somewhere else."

So on a more regional level, how can Snohomish County shrink its meth
problem?

Bart said political leaders need to find a way to tackle the demand for
meth. That means focusing on what goes on inside the meth house and within
the families involved in the house.

It means tackling a regional problem at the individual level, one addict at
a time. It means families reconnecting to support loved ones they have lost.

What Are The Signs Of Addiction?

To the uninitiated, the signs of meth use might not be immediately obvious.

A family member might start out with seemingly boundless energy and be able
to stay up all night. Grades or work performance might actually go up, at
first.

If addiction takes hold, those signs change quickly, experts say.

The addict loses weight and can't sleep. Grades and performance drop.
Abundant, unfocused energy mixes with depression, extreme irritability,
aggression, paranoia and secretive behavior. Tooth decay sets in, and the
addict may start picking at imaginary sores.

If Addiction Is Suspected

If you start noticing signs of addiction, talk to the rest of the family and
consult a licensed drug treatment counselor.

Doctors, health clinics and hospitals can recommend an appropriate local
service, and most school districts have at least part-time drug counselors
who can make referrals if they notice a student struggling with drugs.

Lead on America's county-funded information includes contact numbers for
treatment facilities and drug counseling programs. To get the packet,
contact the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office at 425-388-3393 or e-mail
rick.bart@co.snohomish.wa.us

Consider Family Intervention

Getting a family member into treatment is not always easy.

One local drug counselor and interventionist, Scott Graham of Camano Island,
said he is surprised that more counselors don't offer or make referrals for
family interventions as an early step to recovery.

Family interventions bring the entire family together in a surprise meeting
with the addict. They read love letters backed up with tough-love
consequences designed to force the addict into treatment.

Graham knows of those difficulties from both the counselor's and the
family's perspective.

Graham has worked as a licensed drug counselor in tribal and school programs
throughout Snohomish County for the past decade. He has facilitated more
than 300 family interventions for drug use, and he claims a success rate of
more than 90 percent in placing reluctant addicts into treatment.

Intervention works, he said, because the addict feels supported that he does
not have to battle the addiction alone.

One of Graham's most recent interventions brought meth's tragedy home when
his 21-year-old daughter, Danielle, became addicted to meth. The Graham
family intervened.

"It was the most emotionally packed thing I've ever been involved in,"
Graham said. "We're still struggling with, 'Is she going to be OK?' "

Reason To Hope

Ultimately, the counselors agreed that the solution lies with the addicted
individual. But the people who are coming together to organize the county's
latest response to fighting meth are hoping to give people more tools to
fight that battle.

More than information, York offered the newly forming neighborhood watch
group in Granite Falls hope.

"I want you to leave empowered," York told them.