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67 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, June 22, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend June 18, 2004 H. Westley Clark of the U.S. Department of Human Services addresses meth-related mental issues during a symposium on the far-reaching problems that rampant abuse of the drug is causing in the Rogue Valley and across the country. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Summit focuses on ‘demon drug’ meth By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune The toll methamphetamine takes on the user, environment and society is small compared to the price children of meth-addicted parents must pay, experts say. The adoptive mother of four children whose mothers used meth during pregnancy, 39-year-old Alaina Gotzman knows how hefty that price can be. "These things that we’re seeing are blowing even the professionals away," the Central Point resident said. All of the Gotzmans’ adoptive children — ranging in age from 2 to 7 — suffer from behavioral and emotional problems, causing some to withdraw while others act out. One baby, taken from his meth-addicted mother at birth, excreted meth-related toxins in his urine and feces that burned his skin, Gotzman said. Advertisement "It’s a demon drug," she said. The same sentiment was proclaimed at Thursday’s meth summit sponsored by Southern Oregon Drug Awareness. More than 250 people attended the workshops, which kicked off a local effort to target the drug and educate the public over the next year. That initiative coincides with a task force on meth organized in December by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, the state’s first governor to specifically focus on the drug. "Methamphetamine is so much more dangerous than those other drugs," Larry Campbell, the governor’s senior policy adviser, told conference attendees. While Kulongoski has denounced meth’s effect on businesses, the environment, social services and its prominent role in crime, the governor’s greatest concern is the drug’s impact on children, Campbell said. Because the drug chemically alters the brain, meth users are likely to be abusive, neglectful and inconsistent parents, experts at the conference said. Even recovering meth addicts are handicapped in their parenting efforts because the drug decreases a user’s ability to feel joy. Children also are in direct danger when raised in a home where meth is produced, said John Proveaux, commander of a California state narcotics unit. Toxic substances used in the drug’s manufacture are within easy reach of children. The homes often are filthy with no food to be found. The kids are not supervised and might play in areas where parents have dumped toxic chemical- waste from a lab, he said. In some cases, officers have found dangerous by-products of the drug coating children’s lunch sacks. In other cases, microwaves used to speed up the meth "cooking" process also are used to heat children’s food. While drug use is linked to as much as 85 percent of child welfare cases in Oregon, the effects of meth have not been statistically evaluated on their own, said Doug Mares, child welfare program manager for the state Department of Human Services. However, officials likely will start tracking those numbers within the next year, he said. Anecdotally, meth addiction is the primary reason that children become wards of the local state Circuit Court, said John Hamilton, who coordinates the county’s Community Family Court program. Families like the Gotzmans don’t need statistics to tell them what they already know from their experience fostering 40 children over 11 years. Children in our own neighborhoods are being eaten up by meth. "These little kids are not throw-aways," Gotzman said. "They’re here in our community." Meth Watch effort fights drug-making A statewide effort by retailers to curtail methamphetamine production will soon come to Southern Oregon. Numerous stores that sell pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other substances used to make meth are gearing up to post notices that they participate in the Oregon Meth Watch Program. The program includes increased monitoring of those items and training employees to recognize potential meth users. Participating stores also will distribute brochures on the program. Scheduled to kick off Monday at a Safeway store in downtown Portland, Meth Watch is among the first efforts of a task force on meth that Gov. Ted Kulongoski organized in December. The project should reach Southern Oregon retailers within a month, said Kaleen Deatherage, community outreach and training director for Oregon Partnership. Locally, Meth Watch will be visible at Safeway, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid, Bi-Mart and Minute Market, Deatherage said. Stores that signed on to Meth Watch committed to participation at all their Oregon locations, Deatherage said. Walgreens and Long’s Drugs stores are among other participants. Meth Watch encourages retailers to keep a particularly close eye on household items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and to tag those products on the shelves. Those items include: cold pills containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, acetone, rubbing alcohol, gasoline additives, drain cleaner, coffee filters, iodine, salt, lithium batteries, lye, propane tanks and matches. Employees are encouraged to note purchases of a combination of the flagged items while the stores work closely with law enforcement. Shoplifting of cold tablets containing ephedrine at one large retailer dropped from $3,000 to less than $500 within a year of using the Meth Watch system, according to Meth Watch materials. Modeled on a program designed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the state’s bureau of investigation, the program has been entirely supported by donations, Deatherage said. For more information, visit www.oregonmethwatch.org on the Web. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times