Troubled Teens Resources

One front in the war on teen age drug abuse is the ongoing battle against meth. Meth takes an immeasurable toll on the communities it infests. Unlike other drug pursuits, meth carries with it the additional dangers of meth labs, volatile chemicals and explosions. Yet all drug battles need concerned citizens and funding. Take away support and the dealers win.

Michigan has made great strides in protecting their teens at risk from meth, but without continuing financial support, all efforts are for naught. As a parent, be aware of legislation and political maneuvering that might affect anti-drug programs in your area.

“Two years ago, southwestern Michigan was awash in methamphetamine.

Hundreds of meth labs had been discovered in homes, hotel rooms, trucks and woods. Houses were rendered unlivable by meth chemicals. Children of meth addicts were abused and neglected. Dozens of cattle died at a Richland farm after thieves stealing anhydrous ammonia — an ingredient in meth — left a valve open, allowing release of the poisonous gas.

Police, state and local officials took action. They poured time and money into combating the meth problem. The state Legislature voted to put pseudoephedrine — another ingredient in meth — behind the counter at pharmacies. Police worked overtime, money became available to help property-owners clean up contaminated sites, children were removed from dangerous homes where meth was cooked, addiction-treatment programs geared at getting people off of the very addictive drug were set up.”
[…]
…if the state government shuts down on Oct. 1…so would state funding to combat meth. Even the state Web site identifying contaminated properties would shut down.

This area has made important strides in fighting off a very dangerous plague.

We can’t afford to retreat.

(source)

My nephew lives in Montana where officials are in a battle against the worst infestation of meth production and addiction in the country. It turns out that teen boarding schools are growing in popularity there. Teen age drug abuse takes on an entirely different and menacing complexion when the drug is meth.

My nephew reported that two neighbors have opted to send their teens to a private boarding school because of the overwhelming prevalence of meth and meth culture in their community.

His neighbor made a very sad observation: “It began to seem like I was sending my daughter off to war every time she drove off to school. These meth addicts are dangerous, violent and they are everywhere.”

“Karen, whose parents were both addicts, grew up around drugs. She recalls as a child picking her father’s used needles off the floor.

She started shooting and smoking cocaine before progressing to methamphetamines.

The first time she shot up she was 16.

As she speaks, she rubs blotches of facial acne.

“This is the drug coming out of my system,” she says, noting meth has also started to burn holes through her nose.

Despite developing pockets of infection throughout her body, she still craved the drug, she says.
[…]
“I’ve been raped numerous times. You’re bought and sold but nobody cares,” she says. “I was sold by boyfriends to support their habits.”

She says she willingly gave up custody of her children because she knew her drug habit was hurting them.

Though not yet 30, she says she felt “too old to change.”

(Source)

That is what has become so unnerving. Addiction is now becoming two and three generations deep, each disintegrating family perpetuating the poison of drugs from one generation to the next, weakening, inch by inch, the social fabrics of entire communities.