Tuesday, February 20, 2007

CLEAN coordinating Meth360 program

By Angela Jones
The Winchester Star

KERNSTOWN — Your child has withdrawn from friends and family members.

He has become aggressive and nervous, and has lost interest in school and other activities he once enjoyed.

You notice that he no longer cares about his appearance and is experiencing nosebleeds and increased respiration.

Do you know what is going on when you aren’t around?

WHAT IS
METHAMPHETAMINE?

Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that has a high potential for abuse and dramatically affects the central nervous system. It is a unique drug because it is easy to obtain and relatively cheap to buy. This is possible because meth can be manufactured literally in a person's backyard from relatively inexpensive, over-the-counter ingredients such as pseudoephedrine — common in cold medicines — as well as paint thinner, cat litter, and lighter fuel.

— Information from
the Partnership for a Drug-Free America

It’s possible that your child is using methamphetamine — a problem becoming increasingly evident across the United States.

To help families fight the threat of meth and to prevent the spread of the drug in communities, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America has created a program called Meth360.

Locally, CLEAN Inc. is serving as the coordinating agency for the program and is organizing hour-long presentations in the Winchester and Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties.

Clare Ruysen, educational programs coordinator, said the program can be provided to individual groups.

Its goals are:

To educate parents and other citizens about the dangers of meth use and production, with an emphasis on the impact of meth on non-users.

To provide law enforcement agencies with tangible resources to assist in their efforts to fight the spread of meth.

To equip and motivate concerned citizens to take action to protect their communities.

To provide tools and incentive for parents to communicate with children about drug use.

A community-wide Meth360 program will be held at 7 p.m. on March 1 at the Shenandoah University Health Professions campus.

“We want to reach as many people as we can,” Ruysen said.

Organizations interested in having CLEAN present the program can contact Clare Ruysen at 540-722-3589, ext. 21.

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