Community taking steps to fight meth

In the war to defeat the devastating effects of methamphetamine and other drugs, a growing group of Fayette County residents are taking position on the front lines. They are determined to make a difference.

In the wake of the reality of the mounting devastation, a group of nearly 50 community members and collaborative partners met Tuesday at the Fayetteville Municipal Court building to learn more about the Fayette County Meth Task Force and what they could to to increase their awareness and participation in winning the war. Throughout the meeting there was no shortage of questions and comments from a very interested audience.

The local Methamphetamine Task Force is spearheaded by FACTOR (Fayette Alliance Coordinating Teamwork, Outreach and Resources), a collaborative effort utilizing the participation of public/private partnership of local government, private service agencies, nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, businesses and citizens to improve quality of life for all citizens and identify needs or gaps in services in the county and coordinate resources to address those needs.

At the third meeting of the task force, Fayette FACTOR Executive Director Becky Smith explained that a recent community survey indicated that citizens recognized drug problems in youth and adults in Fayette.

“Ninety-eight percent of the people that responded to the survey said that one of the biggest needs of Fayette County is that it needed to be a drug-free community and 95 percent said there was a problem with drugs and alcohol in our youth and in our adults,” Smith said. “So we looked at how we could affect a change. We wanted to know what we could do with what our community has identified as a problem in our county.”

Smith said the education of parents was a major component of the group’s efforts. A measurable outcome of those efforts, she said, would be to attempt to reduce drug and alcohol-related juvenile crimes over the next three years.

“So our strategic plan over the next three years is to conduct educational seminars,” she said. “Education is knowledge and knowledge gives you power in working with your children. Parents need to understand that there is something they can do.”

Also addressing the inquisitive group of parents and children was Meth Task Force Coordinator and Peachtree City Police Detective Lt. Russ Geboy. Though only with the department for five years, Geboy explained that the increase in seizures of meth and other drugs is real.

“One thing I do know for sure is that meth is a problem,” he said. “It used to be that when you got a cocaine arrest everybody rushed to see it because that just didn’t happen in Peachtree City and Fayette County. Now, nobody even comes up and asks you about it because it’s so commonplace. So we do have a problem and I believe education is the key.”

The educational aim of the meeting came from several perspectives. One of those came from local community counselor Kevin Freeman. Freeman provided a large volume of information relating to the physical and behavioral signs and symptoms of methamphetamine abuse and addiction and the changes in brain chemistry that accompany it.

“I didn’t really know Fayette County had that much of a problem with substance abuse until we started our first substance abuse class,” Freeman said. “Before we knew it our room was full with kids lined up down the hall. We opened a second group and now it’s flourishing and people are coming in left and right. So we really got to see firsthand how big a problem substance abuse really is, especially meth because 98 percent of all the folks there are for meth.”

Freeman explained that meth, cocaine, crack, oxycontin, ice, Ecstasy, heroin, marijuana and other drugs are all commonly found in Fayette County. He said nationally, the average age for first smoking tobacco is 12, the first use of alcohol is age 13 and the first use of marijuana at age 14. Those sobering statistics were followed by a primer on the stages of substance use, the accessibility and prices of various drugs, things parents could look for to help determine if their child is using drugs and the ways parents could help educate themselves to the issues and problems related to substance abuse. Critical in the recognition and prevention of substance abuse, Freeman said, are parents who are informed and educated and display the willingness to work with their children by being organized, open-minded and composed.

Perhaps as much as any speaker during the meeting, two young women with firsthand experience in the world of meth brought a different kind of clarity to the problem. It took more than nerve for Amanda to stand in front of a group of people and admit that meth abuse led to her children being taken from her. It took more than nerve for Jacque to recall the fear and loneliness and desperation that walked in the door of her life after she let methamphetamine in. Lies, deceit, arrest and shame were some of the side effects of that entry.

Yet Amanda and Jacque are real people. In so many ways they mirrored the reality of what significant portions of American society, including Fayette County, experiences today. Reflected in that mirror are teenagers experimenting with a drug made from ingredients that can be obtained from any local hardware store, drug and convenience store. Reflected in that mirror are adults, moms and dads, using similar or different forms of the same drug, rationalizations of their intact but with the dark clouds of personal tragedy looming overhead. As for Amanda and Jacque, they had the nerve to stand in front of a group of strangers and share a part of their life that most others would forever keep hidden. It is undeniable in life that the only real way to make a difference is to be the difference. Like Fayette FACTOR and the meth task force, Jacque and Amanda are making a difference.

Later at the meeting, Peachtree City Police Cpl. Heather Lackey warned parents about the dangers facing children on the Internet and suggested ways parents could protect their children and their family. The Internet, she said, holds potential dangers relating not only to drugs, but to access from pedophiles across town or across the nation.

“The Internet allows pedophiles from across the world to come right into your child’s room,” she explained. Lackey had made a critical point with that statement and her words were followed by a silence in which anyone in the room could hear a pin drop.

Lackey said the proliferation of computers, including many today in children’s bedrooms, make monitoring Internet activities more difficult. She urged parents to use site-tracking features on home computers or similar software products to help monitor their children’s contacts and ensure their safety.

Also at the meeting, local and corporate representatives from Walgreen’s Drugs said their company has taken a proactive stance in the availability of pseudo-ephedrine products often used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. The company removed 180 line items of products containing pseudo-ephedrine from store shelves and placed behind the pharmacy counter. The move, said Walgreen’s Prevention Supervisor Gregg Beam, was intended to eliminate one source of ingredients for making meth.

One of the task force goals is to take their message to schools, civic organizations and any group interested in learning more about the dangers of methamphetamine, said Geboy. The current focus on educating parents is one part of an overall goal to take the message community wide and to win the war.

“Education is what we know will change the future for our teens,” Smith said.

The Meth Task Force is comprised of four committees. The treatment committee is composed of local treatment providers. The education committee focuses on educating those individuals that are not at risk for meth use, but because of their work or personal involvement, need to be educated on what meth is and the dangers it poses. The prevention committee focuses its activities on individuals that are at risk for meth use. The committee serves as the public awareness arm of the task force and participates in local functions that help raise awareness of the task force and its aims. The enforcement committee gears its activities toward the investigation and arrest of those involved in meth production and distribution.

Fayette FACTOR can be reached at 770-716-2797. Additional information can be obtained at the group’s extensive website and its many links at www.fayettefactorfcp.org.

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