The Growing Meth Epidemic

The following is my first investigative article for the Dawson Community News. Even though the article focuses on the meth problem in Dawson County, the information about meth is still relevant because meth is spreading like wildfire throughout the whole country, especially in the South. Northeast Georgia, in particular, is plagued with an ever-increasing meth addiction rate because Atlanta has become a hub for meth imports. From there, it's filtered out to surrounding counties, all the way to Stephen's County. So here is the article:

TASK FORCE HOPES TO ERADICATE METH ABUSE
by Tia Lynn Lecorchick
Staff Intern

The Meth Task Force, a volunteer-based organization led by Chairman Dewitt Wannamaker, was formed to create a proactive partnership with Dawson County law enforcement to more effectively combat the cyclical nature of methamphetamine abuse by implementing a variety of prevention, education and treatment initiatives.

According to Sheriff Billy Carlisle, The Dawson County Sheriff’s Office has stepped up its efforts to control the prevalent meth problem by assigning two officers solely to drug investigation and utilizing a canine task force to assist in tracking down meth users, suppliers and producers.

"We keep arresting them, but as soon as they serve their time and are released, they go right back to their meth habits. That’s why we need the Meth Task Force," said Carlisle.

"The community needs to know that today’s meth addict does not look like a zombie. They look like common, every day people," explained Wannamaker, who, as a former court appointed special advocate and chairman for a foster home placement review panel, has seen the effects of meth first hand. "The victims of meth are not only the users, but the children, spouses, family and everyone else who depends on users to be functioning members of society."

One of the main objectives of the Meth Task Force is to equip local drug treatment centers with the means to treat meth addicts. According to Wannamaker, none of the Dawson County drug centers are prepared for that.

Rehabilitation for meth addicts has proven to be an involved and prolonged process with discouraging results. In a 2001 MSNBC special report, Jon Bonne cited that out of all illicit drugs, meth has the lowest addiction recovery rate at less than 7 percent.

With an uphill battle ahead for the recovery of meth addicts, preventing people from getting addicted in the first place is a vital investment into the community.

"The best prevention is education," said Wannamaker. "We want to educate every element of the community: the schools, the clubs, the churches and any other organization that will have us."

In 2006, Dawson County police arrested 240 people for drug possession and violations. A good portion of the arrests were for meth, according to Carlisle.

"Everyone wants to think that meth problems only exist in the larger cities, but we have our share of it, too," noted Carlisle.

According to the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, meth is an extremely powerful and highly addictive central nervous system synthetic stimulant that unleashes a flood of dopamine in the brain, causing euphoric moods, increased energy and exaggerated body movements that can last as long as 14 hours. Meth can be injected, snorted, smoked or digested orally. Side-effects include vomiting, diarrhea, bloodshot eyes, rapid heartbeat, dramatic weight-loss, paranoia, rotting teeth, insomnia, memory loss and hallucinations.

Long time addicts are prone to aggression, depression and violence. Full blown meth addicts render their brains incapable of naturally producing normal amounts of dopamine, which can lead to symptoms similar to those of Parkinson disease and type-two schizophrenia. The longer a person is addicted to meth, the greater chances that person has of strokes, cardiovascular collapse and premature death, according to Anti-Meth, a North Georgia organization supporting prevention, treatment, and law enforcement for methamphetamines.

"Meth is the very worst drug we have ever seen," declared Wannamaker. "I won’t ask the community ‘what can you do?’ I am asking, ‘what will you do?’ What will you do to make no meth in Dawson County a reality?"

The next public meeting of the Meth Task Force will be July 26 at Rock Creek Park at 11 a.m. Chuck Wade, executive C.E.O. on the Drugs and Alcohol Counsel for Georgia, will be speaking about the realities of meth as part of the Meth Task Force’s education initiative.

The Meth Task Force works in conjunction with the Dawson County Police Department and is officially supported by The Dawson County Chamber of Commerce and Drugs Don’t Work. To join the their efforts and find out more information visit: www.methindawsoncounty.com.

Volunteers Without Borders

We've all seen it. Usually we've seen it during sleepless nights at three in the morning, hunkered down on our couches in front of the TV. I'm referring to the images of starving children, wounded souls, and devastated countries while a host pleads with his late night audience to donate 30 cents a day to support the afflicted lingering in the background. Maybe we listened, maybe it made us uncomfortable, or maybe we changed the channel to catch some of that marathon of Punk'd on MTV. Regardless of our reaction, we've all seen it.

On April 5, Nobel Peace Price winner Mary Lightfine gave a lecture entitled "Nurse without Borders" to GSC students in the Performing Arts Building about her work with Doctors without Borders. The students' first introduction to Lightfine was a projected photograph of her holding the hands of middle-eastern children. Many of the slides to follow were pictures akin to the ones on our late night TV screens. She gave a name to those faces and told the stories behind their suffering.
This woman has dedicated more than 10 years of her life living in countries ravaged by war, famine, diseases, and poverty, providing medical treatment to soldiers, civilians, and everyone in between. She has been shot at, threatened, and robbed. Regardless, she still sees the beauty in these places and cultures and the desperate need to aid them.

Lightfine reveals the character that pricked her curiosity about the world existing outside of America. She recalls, "Ever since the first time I saw Tarzan swing across my TV set, he planted a seed of curiosity in my brain. That seed grew and grew until after 16 years as a nurse, I woke up one day in Africa."

Behind her personal experience and pictures, there lies a serious message. The message that has become quite clichéd, but it could not contain more truth, that one person can make a difference. She told the students about a deadly worm that develops as a result of drinking dirty water in many of these poverty-stricken countries. But because of one person inventing a simple plastic tube with a cotton filter the problem has nearly been eradicated. A problem that was plaguing millions is nearly defeated by one person. That's powerful.

And this was precisely her point and her motivation for speaking around the country. This was the reason she started the organization "Volunteers without Boundaries," which provides the opportunity for people to serve the outside world and find their own calling.

Lightfine reminded that we, the students, "are the future leaders and inventors." She encouraged the involvement of GSC students in making a better world for the less fortunate, however that may take shape. Whether it's becoming a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, an inventor, or just pledging 30 cents a day before switching the channel to MTV. We can make a difference, and it is people like Mary Lightfine who prove it and remind others of it.

The Plight of Darfur

The nationally acclaimed documentary, “The Darfur Diaries,” was shown on the GSC campus on Feb. 26, followed by a panel discussion with Douglas Ealey, a professor of political science and religion, Amin Al-Midani, a Fulbright scholar and expert on Islamic Law, and Basmat Ahmed, a teenage Darfur refugee. The Black Student Association and Students for a Progressive Society sponsored the event in honor or Black History Month.

The people of Darfur have been plagued by warfare, bombings, air raids, rape, torture and pillaging that have resulted in over 2 million refugees dispersed throughout the neighboring country of Chad, the annihilation of over 2 thousand villages and the genocide of over 400,000 Darfur citizens.

During the panel discussion, each guest expounded on the dire situation in Darfur and how Americans can be part of the solution.

“The problem with Americans is that we do not know what is going on beyond our borders. We become prejudice and uncaring out of our ignorance,” said Ealey.

Ealey clearly expressed his view that America is indeed a great nation but also addressed the misconception that America gives the most foreign aid.

“While the U.S. considers itself a humanitarian-oriented nation, the U.S. gives more raw dollars than all countries, but gives the least percentage wise out of the wealthiest countries in the world,” explained Ealey.

Al-Midani tackled the inconsistencies existing between the corrupt government professing the Islamic faith, who are wreaking havoc upon the people of Darfur, and the actual Islamic faith.

“There is a contradiction between the Sudanese government and the Arab tradition. The regimes are driven by political agendas, not Muslim or Arab philosophies,” explained Al-Midani.

An emotionally-moved Ahmed recalled her beloved homeland now consumed in the chaos of war and oppression.

“Darfur was a wonderful, beautiful, friendly place before the war. The people are overcome because they are weak, without education and weapons,” said Ahmed. She desperately wanted to arouse involvement from the 45 listening people in the CE auditorium.

“This is the first time for me to speak about my hope. I hope everyone here could connect with another people from another place. My hope is that different people will rise up in one voice to demand the end of this war and oppression. It’s not just about talk and movies, we need action,” she stressed.

The documentary itself chronicled the plight of Darfur civilians terrorized by the corrupt rebel group Janjawid, who are equipped with weapons and money by the Sudanese government.
The documentary showed interviews with surviving refugees, most separated from their families, steeped in extreme poverty, without any options to harvest food or incomes. They live out their days in a sort of limbo, waiting to live or die. Food is scarce, malnutrition and disease run rampant, and shelter is a little more than tents consisting of sheets and sticks. Bugs make their homes on the crevices of children’s faces. Vivid nightmares make nights sleepless for many survivors. Children draw pictures of war and murder, the images that haunt them at night.
Once members of productive families, communities and tribes, Darfur refugees have been reduced to wandering nomads. Their only goal is avoiding exploitation and death in the constant crossfire of demented rebel groups and corrupt regimes.

After surviving the uprooting and dislocation, many refugee camps are determined to provide protection for the people. The Darfur Diaries follow members of the Sudan Liberation Army, a group assembled to combat the rebel group Janjawid and the Sudanese government.

“We are compelled to fight against the government for our survival,” explained one human rights leader in the Sudan Liberation Army.

An effort to revive education is also underway in many refugee camps. Classes are conducted within half-walls constructed from mud and water, often operating without textbooks or writing utensils. However, the lack of supplies does not impugn their will.

“There is no life without education,” said one refugee.

Darfur Diaries has been shown on college campuses across the nation. It was created to provide a window into another place and culture that is crumbling under the reign of injustice. To find out more information about this crisis and how to get involved in a solution go to: www.darfurdiaries.org.

A Dream Coming to Fruition

Even though it has been 39 years since the death of Martin Luther King Jr., his memory still holds the power to bring diverse peoples together, united in the vision of justice, freedom and equality for all.
On Jan. 17, Michael Thurmond, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor, lead the “Reflecting, but Always Moving Forward: Celebrating the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” event at GSC.
GSC President Martha Nesbitt graciously introduced Thurmond, noting that his efforts have contributed to the immense success of the Georgia Department of Labor. “It has the number 1 national ranking in helping the unemployed get back to work,” said Nesbitt.
Thurmond opened the remembrance ceremony by pointing out the fruition of King’s infamous dream.
“We, of different racial, ethnic, religious and political persuasion have gathered on common ground, under a common roof, for a common purpose.” Thurmond said.
The central theme of the event was to convey to the audience what King’s memory and dream mean for people today. Thurmond quoted from the last speech King gave before he was assassinated.
“’He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land,’” recited Thurmond.
Thurmond compared King to the Old Testament’s Moses, who led the Israelites to the threshold of the Promised Land. Although Moses did not cross over, the people did. Thurmond reminded that the torch of racial harmony must continue to be passed on from generation to generation, if the human race is going to enter a discrimination-free “Promised Land”.
The context and tone of King’s last speech was akin to the Bible’s Samson, who stood between the mighty temple pillars, bursting with one last surge of strength to tear them down. Although the pillars of segregation came crashing down upon King, they came down nonetheless. The present generation of young people stands in the ruins with the tools to “build bridges,” as Thurmond put it, across the various racial divides that remain.
“We must continue to build bridges between blacks and whites, men and women, democrats and republicans,” encouraged Thurmond.
While King delivered the fatal blow to “enforced segregation”, Thurmond addressed the present problem of “self-segregation,” where each race, religion and ethnicity voluntarily separates themselves from those that differ.
“If you really want to celebrate Martin Luther King, introduce yourself to someone different. You should not leave this college the way you came,” challenged Thurmond.
Thurmond conveyed the necessity to engage with people of different racial, religious and political persuasions.
“America is finally becoming the melting pot it always bragged it was. It has the most diverse workforce in history, so we must learn to deal with people who are different,” he said.
In addition to honoring the life and achievements of King, Thurmond emphasized the legacy King laid before the future generations’ feet.
“We have come not only to celebrate, but to rededicate ourselves, so that his dream will become a reality,” closed Thurmond.