Increasing methamphetamine abuse is destroying many of the families of those who make or use it, confronting authorities with a new class of neglected child: meth orphans.In Oklahoma, officials say the growing number of children taken from homes where meth was “cooked” or used has overwhelmed shelters and foster care.
Last year, meth overtook cocaine as the third most commonly abused substance in Colorado, after alcohol and marijuana, according to Janet Wood, director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division in the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Meth is often perceived as a rural problem, but Wood says here it’s about 60 percent urban. Most of Colorado’s meth comes from large labs in California and Mexico.
“Most indicators for methamphetamine increased over the past few years,” said a state report in June, “and this drug was and remains a rapidly expanding social problem for Colorado. Violent crime related to methamphetamine use has been increasing, and the social consequences, particularly as related to children residing in methamphetamine cook houses remain grim.”
Wood said that in 1997, 1,081 people who entered treatment listed meth as their primary drug; last year, it was triple that: 3,209.
With other drugs, male abusers outnumber females 3 to 1, Wood said, but meth has no gender gap. Wood theorized meth appeals to some women because of weight loss and because, in early stages, the effects make them more active and productive. In later stages, addicts become dysfunctional.
Meth has a long-lasting high. Users sometimes will go days without eating, so the kids don’t get fed. When users come down, they sleep a lot; kids fend for themselves.
Meth is is easily made in home labs, using pseudoephedrine (a common cold medicine ingredient), fertilizers, solvents or battery acid. It is a toxic and explosive mix.
Last month, the National Association of Counties said that 40 percent of U.S. child welfare officials reported meth had caused a spike in kids removed from homes. In California, 71 percent of counties posted an increase; in Colorado, 70 percent; North Dakota, 54 percent; and Minnesota, 69 percent.
When meth labs are raided, the kids often go into foster care. Federal law requires that states must act to terminate parental rights for children who have been in foster care 15 out of 22 months. Many meth-family kids have behavior and health problems that make them difficult to place.
Wood said the best approach is prevention, although money for prevention or treatment is not plentiful in Colorado.
That’s a false economy. Without treatment and prevention, the kids who are the real victims will pay for their parents’ addictions for the rest of their lives.
