METH SEMINARS UNDERWAY
Wednesday, May 10th, 2006 -- 10:13 AM
A series of seminars around Clark County aim to inform people about the dangers of the drug methamphetamine, which is growing in popularity in the area.?Not only does (Meth) work very quickly, it is so extremely addictive,? according to Karen King, the ER/OR supervisor at Memorial Medical Center in Neillsville. ?The best-case scenario is that 90 out of 100 people will become addicted after the second time they either smoke it or inject it.?
King is organizing the free, one hour seminars ? the first of which was held Tuesday night at the Neillsville High School Auditorium.
Appearing with King on our Viewpoint program Tuesday, David Parnell described his fight against Meth. The Tennessee man spent seven years addicted to the ?upper". A failed suicide attempt changed Parnell?s life. He now travels the country trying to prevent kids from using the drug, but also offering hope to those addicted.
?I believe I was addicted from the first time I tried it. This drug will completely drive people insane,? Parnell said. ?The lack of sleep and the dehydration and the chemical mix-up in the brain ? most people really go off the deep end.?
Aside from being extremely addictive, Meth also wreaks havoc with the body?s production of dopamine ? a chemical that makes you ?happy?, according to King.
?One-hundred percent of your body?s stores of dopamine is being dumped out in the body for use at that one single moment. Our brains aren?t designed to handled that intense rush at once,? King explains. ?Not only does it dump it all out, the Meth mimics the dopamine. It will go in and block any passages back into the brain for recycling.?
?You?ve basically depleted your pleasure chemical for the rest of your life.?
While not allowed to talk about specific cases, King says everyone agrees the drug is prevalent in Clark County.
?There?s probably not one presentation that somebody has come up to me afterward and said ?my sister is doing this?, or ?my niece is doing this?. Everybody has a personal story in our community about this,? King says.
King says the United Nations recognizes Meth as the most abused drug in the World.
For a complete list of the seminars, you can click on the [url=http://www.cwbradio.com/calendar]calendar page[/url] of our website.
You can learn more about David Parnell?s story at his website [url=http://www.facingthedragon.org]www.facingthedragon.org[/url]
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.