SHERIFF SPEAKS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AT METH MEETINGS

Bowie County Sheriff James Prince has a unique perspective when it
comes to dealing with methamphetamine users and their families.

Three and a half years ago, he had his own 31-year-old son arrested on
drug charges. ‘Its a tough thing to put your kid in jail, but a
lot of people are doing it. The alternative is a whole lot worse.

I told my son I would rather see him in jail than in a casket' Prince
said. Prince spoke Tuesday night in Redwater, Texas, at the first town
hall meeting held by the Bowie County Sheriffs Office and the East
Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. He said he caught a plane
to Georgia when he received a phone call saying his son might be doing
drugs.

Once he arrived, his son who just months before had called his dad
every two weeks dodged him for three days. When Prince did finally see
his son, he barely recognized him. ‘All of his life hes been
told he looks like Tom Cruise. He took care of himself.

He was preppy' Prince said.

The son he saw that day in Georgia had oily hair and unkept
fingernails. He was thin and paranoid. ‘He didnt look like Tom
Cruise that day' Prince said. Afraid that his son would continue to
decline, Prince worked with undercover investigators in Georgia to
have him arrested.

‘I applied tough love' he said. Prince, who flew to Georgia to
pick his son up after he was released from prison a few weeks ago,
hopes it has worked. ‘My boy told me Daddy, I would not have
gotten off it if you had not done what you did' Prince said. However,
he remains concerned about relapses because it is so common among meth
users.

‘I hope and pray he stays off it' the sheriff said. Prince said
parents of meth users should not be ashamed if their sons or daughters
are on drugs. ‘You have not done anything wrong' he said.

He said often good people fall in with the wrong people and make
dangerous mistakes. ‘I am not happy with the mistake (my son)
made in life but I still love him' he said. The purpose of the town
hall meetings is to educate parents and other relatives about the
symptoms of meth use and some of the other signs associated with it.

Meth Watch, a national awareness program, has been implemented in a
number of other states and is now starting in Texas. DeAnna OMalley,
education specialist for the East Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Abuse, said Meth Watch has been established as part of Senate Bill 66
with the intention of informing retailers of the problems associated
with meth. Signs and brochures will be placed in retail stores near
the merchandise that could be purchased for drug manufacturing or use.
A grant from Texas Gov. Rick Perrys office is paying for the signs,
brochures and other materials.

State law already requires any store that carries pseudoephedrine-based
products to place those products behind sales counters or in locked
cabinets.

Another town hall meeting will be held at 6:30 tonight at Texas High
School.