MOTHERS 'METH' UP, MESS UP THEIR LIVES

"I remember when I was 22, I said that I was glad that I was getting the
drug phase out while I was young, because I didn't want to be in my 30s
still doing dope," Jessica wrote this year in an e-mail message to the Koch
Crime Institute in Topeka, Kan. Now, after 10 years of high-roller living
on methamphetamine, she said, "I am looking at going to prison for five
years." Her meth-using husband is in the slammer for the third time.
Neither of her "two beautiful children" can live with her anymore.

"For anyone just starting to use or is thinking about using," Jessica
wrote, "think of the Twin Towers when the terrorist attacked. Do you
remember how beautiful and strong the two looked. But within seconds, there
was complete chaos, total destruction, it took everything with it and then
showed the face of the devil . That is only the beginning of what meth will
show you. Don't get all methed up with meth."

For years, officials in Western states have battled methamphetamine, a
cheap, easily made, highly addictive chemical stimulant.

Now the drug is "moving" East, and its growing popularity -- especially
among women with children -- is troubling many officials.

"In Utah, meth has become the drug of choice for women because it helps
them lose weight and be 'supermom,'" Robin Arnold-Williams, executive
director of the Utah Department of Human Services, told a Senate hearing on
welfare reform last month.

"This is the first drug women have enjoyed using," said Darrell Wehmeier of
the Koch Crime Institute, which has been tracking meth since the mid-1990s.

"I think meth is the worst drug problem we've ever seen out there," Mr.
Wehmeier said, "because both sexes like it, kids are exposed to it at a
young age and we don't know how to treat [meth-users] correctly. Instead,
they go through rehab after rehab after rehab."

To some, meth or "speed" may seem like an old story. Originally developed
as a medicine for asthma and other ailments, methamphetamine was used by
the Nazis in the 1940s to spur their lagging troops.

In the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. motorcycle gangs made batches of meth and sold
it to hippies, college students and other "speed freaks."

Today's drug comes from "meth labs" run by professionals associated with
Mexican-based traffickers or local "cooks," who use over-the-counter
products and Internet recipes to make it in homes, cabins and caves.

Meth, which sometimes is called "poor man's cocaine," "crank," "ice,"
"stove top" or "Satan dust," causes a short "rush" when smoked, injected,
snorted or swallowed. The "high" evolves into a euphoria that lasts eight
to 24 hours, accompanied by high energy levels and little or no appetite.

When meth wears off, it leaves the user feeling depressed, fatigued and
craving more of the drug.

Long-term use is associated with severe paranoia, aggression, confusion and
insomnia. Its effects on the brain are "similar to damage caused by
Alzheimer's disease, stroke and epilepsy," the Office of National Drug
Control Policy says.

Meth users, including 8.8 million people in 2000, have been concentrated in
Western and Southern rural areas. However, evidence shows the drug and its
homegrown "meth labs" are moving northeast, into Virginia, Pennsylvania and
New York.

Although most meth users are men -- the drug is particularly popular with
interstate truckers, farmworkers and male homosexuals -- it also appeals to
women.

Meth makes women lose weight and yet feel a lot of energy, said Patrick
Fleming, director of the Division of Substance Abuse in the Utah Department
of Human Services.

Women also get involved with meth if their boyfriends make and"or sell it
because meth dealers typically have a lot of money and girlfriends have
free access, he said.

The result in Utah is that mothers with children are more likely to use
meth than alcohol or other drugs, said Mr. Fleming.

Last year, 937 mothers entered treatment for meth, compared with 686
mothers admitted for alcoholism, he said. The opposite was true for
fathers: Alcohol was the No. 1 reason fathers sought treatment (1,316
admissions), while meth addiction was second (548 admissions).

While some people can use meth occasionally, many find its highs
irresistible, with dire consequences for both adults and children in the home.

"People who are strung out on methamphetamine pick scabs and holes in their
skin. They see bugs climbing on walls," said Mr. Fleming. "And because
their nerves are becoming damaged, they don't have the ability to settle
down and deal with a crying 2-year-old. So there's abuse and neglect .
They'll leave [their children] in their room with dirty diapers, lock them
up and walk away."

Meth houses are "the worst cases I've ever seen -- horrible neglect," said
Lisa Jorgensen, who has attended more than 100 meth arrests in her eight
years as a Utah child-protective services investigator.

Many meth houses are devoid of food because none of the adults has an
appetite, she said. Other houses have rotting food left out since the last
binge. "The kids just eat out of the pots," said Ms. Jorgensen.

Loaded guns, hard-core pornography, noxious fumes and caustic, flammable
and poisonous chemicals lying around make meth homes extraordinarily dangerous.

"It's the scariest substance that we've ever dealt with in a society," said
Ms. Jorgensen, who noted that many children test positive for meth by
merely living in a drug house. "It's very frightening to watch a 5-year-old
withdraw."

Meth-using mothers "all seem to have the delusion that they're not harming
the children if 'they never see me cook it or use it' or 'if I use it only
after they go to bed,'" said Mary O'Riley, executive director of Bernie
Lorenz Recovery Inc., a halfway house for female substance abusers in Des
Moines, Iowa.

But the women don't realize that when they are under the influence, they
are emotionally and physically distant, said Miss O'Riley, adding that meth
has been the primary drug of choice for her clientele for the past four years.

Recovery from meth is an especially slow process, treatment specialists
say. It takes 90 days just for abnormal brain effects to subside, after
which the addict struggles for years with impulsiveness, short attention
spans, low tolerance for frustration and memory loss.

It's not uncommon for a meth-addicted woman to meet with her counselor and
carefully plan her activities for the next 24 hours, but by the next day
completely forget what has been said, said Miss O'Riley.

Crystal Meth Anonymous, a 12-step program for recovering addicts, has
fellowships around the country and recently has started one in the
Washington area. Meetings are growing fast, "which I believe speaks to the
extent of the problem with crystal meth around the country," said Will H.,
a spokesman for the West Hollywood, Calif.-based group.