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Meth meeting educates community

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

You don’t have to go far to hear disparaging accounts of the daughter, mother or father who’s hooked on methamphetamine, a highly-addictive drug that destroys brain cells, rots teeth and ages the skin.

All you have to do is open your door and open your eyes, Fayette County law enforcement and court officials told more than 160 people who attended a meth awareness event held from noon to 2 p.m. Monday at First Baptist Church in Peachtree City.

The luncheon was the kick-off event sponsored by the Fayette Alliance Coordinating Teamwork, Outreach and Resources or FACTOR. FACTOR is a community collaborative group which seeks to improve the lives of Fayette County children and families, especially juveniles 12 to 17.

There have been 66 cases made in Fayette County for possession of methamphetamine and 22 cases for trafficking methamphetamine, Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard said.

But the problem is not only in the county. It’s in Peachtree City, Fayetteville and everywhere else in Fayette County, officials said.

“Meth is a problem,” said Griffin Judicial Circuit Juvenile Judge Tarey Schell, who hosted the event. “Meth is a problem from our perspective.”

Schell told that crowd that he knows Fayette County has a methamphetamine problem based on the cases that are brought before him.

In 2004, 36 males and 22 females came to his courtroom for drugs. He said the recidivism rate is 90 percent and the largest increase is among soccer moms, who are turning to the drug for weight loss and extra energy.

“Meth is an equal opportunity drug,” Schell said.

It appeals to all races, genders and ages, officials said. It even affected a state legislator’s son who was caught running a meth lab in his closet.

Those who attended got an earful of information about the drug, its effects on the abuser and the community as a whole.

But rather than point fingers and cast blame, the attendees learned how they can do something about it. Enter Georgia Meth Watch.

Adam Geib of the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse unveiled Georgia Meth Watch: a plan that would create a partnership between business owners and law enforcement.

Many of the products used to create the drug are found in drug stores, supermarkets and retail stores. By forming this alliance and establishing some key things to look out for, Geib contended meth abuse could be reduced in the county.

He said businesses would post logos on the store doors, at the register and on some shelves to remind people that store employees will be watching.

He said Meth Watch has been used in other places and as a result three-fourths of their drug tips for meth have come from retail business and one-half of the arrest warrants for meth are coming from retail businesses.