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Douglas County sheriff’s Cpl. Jeff Frieze works with drug-sniffing dog Reggie Thursday during a demonstration at a meth awareness workshop at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Umpqua Valley in Roseburg.
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ENLARGE
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Gwen Soderberg-Chase and Phil Bowser, members of the Douglas County Meth Task Force, speak at a meth awareness workshop at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Umpqua Valley in Roseburg. Douglas County Coalition Aligned to Prevent Substance Abuse, DCCAPS, and the Meth Task Force joined together to put on the meth workshop for parents.
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ENLARGE
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At left, Tylor Hart, 15, and Jessica Friesen, 14, write down what they learned during a meth awareness workshop. Their notes will be sent back to them in a month to remind them of the workshop.
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It only took a matter of seconds for 4-year-old Reggie to find the hidden methamphetamine and marijuana.
As she walked by the garbage can where a meth-scented towel was hidden, her head snapped toward the can, her mouth closed and her sniffer went to work.
In the blink of an eye, the golden retriever had discovered the towel that her handler, Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Jeff Frieze, had hidden earlier, while she waited in the patrol car. It took even less time for her to find the 3 1/2 grams of marijuana Frieze had stashed in a black bag.
Reggie demonstrated her drug-sniffing abilities for a crowd of about 50 people Thursday night at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Umpqua Valley. The presentation was part of a 90-minute workshop focusing on meth and other drug abuse, put on by the Meth Task Force and Douglas County Communities Aligned to Prevent Substance Abuse, or DCCAPS.
Task force presenters Gwen Soderberg-Chase and Phil Bowser explained what meth is, why it’s addictive and what it does to a person’s body. DCCAPS Executive Director Patti LaFreniere told parents about the dangers of underage drinking and providing alcohol to minors.
Even though the free workshop was aimed at parents, it had an impact with several of the kids in the audience as well.
“(Meth) can ruin your teeth and can kill your brain,” said 9-year-old Conner Perry of Roseburg.
Conner’s parents took him and his sister, 13-year-old Riley, to the workshop with the hope that the kids would stay away from drugs if they knew more about them, their dad, Frank Perry, said. Frank and his wife, Bobbi, have already talked to their kids about the dangers of drugs, but thought the extra education provided at the workshop couldn’t hurt.
“We’ve known people that were addicted to meth. It ruins families, friends,” Frank Perry said. “You never know when someone has that addictive personality, so you just hope your kids don’t.”
LaFreniere said parental influence like the Perrys’ can thwart youth substance abuse because involvement from parents is the number one reason why kids said they don’t use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.
Frieze also told parents about the dangers of providing alcohol to minors.
“When kids get drunk, just like anyone else, they get stupid,” he said.
Parents, teens and children in the audience learned that Douglas County’s 89 miles of Interstate 5 and 2,500 square miles of public land provide vast areas for dealers and distributors to hide and transport drugs and escape town without being noticed. The crackdown on the sale of pseudoephedrine tablets in stores has helped shrink the number of meth labs in the area, Bowser said, but it hasn’t deterred people from bringing the drug to Douglas County from out of the country.
Besides the widely known physical damage to the body of a meth user, other areas of society suffer from meth use, Soderberg-Chase said. For every pound of methamphetamine that is cooked, five to six pounds of toxic waste are produced and usually abandoned, she said. Soderberg-Chase also cited the high crime rates and numbers of identity theft cases as economic impacts on the community.
Children also suffer when parents abuse drugs, Bowser said. The number one reason why children are in protective custody in Douglas County is child neglect due to drug use by parents, he said. Last year, the county had 38 cases of child neglect and endangerment related to drugs, Bowser said.
As she walked by the garbage can where a meth-scented towel was hidden, her head snapped toward the can, her mouth closed and her sniffer went to work.
In the blink of an eye, the golden retriever had discovered the towel that her handler, Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Jeff Frieze, had hidden earlier, while she waited in the patrol car. It took even less time for her to find the 3 1/2 grams of marijuana Frieze had stashed in a black bag.
Reggie demonstrated her drug-sniffing abilities for a crowd of about 50 people Thursday night at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Umpqua Valley. The presentation was part of a 90-minute workshop focusing on meth and other drug abuse, put on by the Meth Task Force and Douglas County Communities Aligned to Prevent Substance Abuse, or DCCAPS.
Task force presenters Gwen Soderberg-Chase and Phil Bowser explained what meth is, why it’s addictive and what it does to a person’s body. DCCAPS Executive Director Patti LaFreniere told parents about the dangers of underage drinking and providing alcohol to minors.
Even though the free workshop was aimed at parents, it had an impact with several of the kids in the audience as well.
“(Meth) can ruin your teeth and can kill your brain,” said 9-year-old Conner Perry of Roseburg.
Conner’s parents took him and his sister, 13-year-old Riley, to the workshop with the hope that the kids would stay away from drugs if they knew more about them, their dad, Frank Perry, said. Frank and his wife, Bobbi, have already talked to their kids about the dangers of drugs, but thought the extra education provided at the workshop couldn’t hurt.
“We’ve known people that were addicted to meth. It ruins families, friends,” Frank Perry said. “You never know when someone has that addictive personality, so you just hope your kids don’t.”
LaFreniere said parental influence like the Perrys’ can thwart youth substance abuse because involvement from parents is the number one reason why kids said they don’t use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.
Frieze also told parents about the dangers of providing alcohol to minors.
“When kids get drunk, just like anyone else, they get stupid,” he said.
Parents, teens and children in the audience learned that Douglas County’s 89 miles of Interstate 5 and 2,500 square miles of public land provide vast areas for dealers and distributors to hide and transport drugs and escape town without being noticed. The crackdown on the sale of pseudoephedrine tablets in stores has helped shrink the number of meth labs in the area, Bowser said, but it hasn’t deterred people from bringing the drug to Douglas County from out of the country.
Besides the widely known physical damage to the body of a meth user, other areas of society suffer from meth use, Soderberg-Chase said. For every pound of methamphetamine that is cooked, five to six pounds of toxic waste are produced and usually abandoned, she said. Soderberg-Chase also cited the high crime rates and numbers of identity theft cases as economic impacts on the community.
Children also suffer when parents abuse drugs, Bowser said. The number one reason why children are in protective custody in Douglas County is child neglect due to drug use by parents, he said. Last year, the county had 38 cases of child neglect and endangerment related to drugs, Bowser said.
After informing the audience of the economic, physical, social and environmental dangers of meth use, Soderberg-Chase told parents the main message of the night.
“The bottom line is ... that, truly, meth kills,” she said.
• You can reach reporter Marissa Harshman at 957-4202 or by e-mail at mharshman@nrtoday.com.
“The bottom line is ... that, truly, meth kills,” she said.
• You can reach reporter Marissa Harshman at 957-4202 or by e-mail at mharshman@nrtoday.com.
By the numbers ...
Arrests for possession of meth or a controlled substance in Douglas County:
2006 - 509 2007 - 363 Arrests for manufacturing meth or a controlled substance in Douglas County: 2006 - 45 2007 - 20 Arrests for delivery of meth or a controlled substance in Douglas County: 2006 - 88 2007 - 60 Total number of drug-related arrests in Douglas County. 2007 - 948 <i>Statistics provided by the Meth Task Force.</i> |
