| Meth in the news |
In the News.........
Major Drug Bust In Buford ,Georgia
DEA agents make a huge drug bust in Gwinnett
County. The Federal Drug Enforcement
Administration in Atlanta, calls it a record seizure
of crystal meth.
Agents discovered 187 pounds of "ice," along
with 41 kilos of cocaine.
The Administration's Ruth Whipple tells WSB's
Ruth Whipple they made the discovery at a home
off of Suwanee Dam Road in Buford, after
following up on a tip.
"The duffel bags that held the drugs were inside
of seven large trashcans that were buried
underneath the ground in the backyard of the
residence," said Whipple.
The find, worth up to $25 million is the largest in
Georgia in a year-and-a-half, and the third
largest seizure in the US this year. 43-year-old
Eduardo Castro Torres, aka "Damian",
28-year-old Julio Ruesga Barajas, aka "Julio",
39-year-old Ignacio Castro Torres, aka "Nacho",
and 25-year-old Jesus Alejandro Valencia Parra,
aka "Medina" have been charged with possession
and intent to distribute methamphetamine and
cocaine.
Two arrested, two sought in record meth
seizure by The Associated Press
ATLANTA - Two men have been arrested and two
more are being sought following the seizure of
more than 300 pounds of methamphetamine in
Gainesville - a record for the state, according to
federal authorities who made the announcement
Wednesday.
Authorities seized 341 pounds of meth on Aug.
21 and 22, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias' office
said.
The investigation began when U.S. Forest
Service officials spotted four people cultivating a
marijuana field inside Chattahoochee National
Forest in Union County, Nahmias said added.
Authorities searched a house connected to the
suspects where they found the meth. The
investigation turned up 300 marijuana plants.
Total value of all the drugs: more than $50 million.
Three brothers, all illegal aliens, have been
arrested and the fourth, also believed to be in the
country illegally, is still at large.
Investigators said the meth had been imported
from Mexico.
(AccessNorthGa.com's Jerry Gunn contributed to
this story.)
Faces of Meth Hits Rabun County.
Megan Heidlberg
WNEG NewsCHANNEL 32
Thursday, November 9, 2006
Nearly two million Americans are addicted to
Meth, according to the White County Meth Task
Force. Agents say it's the number one drug
problem in most counties. Northeast Georgia is
no exception. And, one out of every ten kids will
try Meth and become addicted. To try and curb
this growing epidemic a former Meth addict
sharer her story with students at Rabun County
High School Thursday.
It's called the faces of Meth. Everyday people
addicted to the drug so bad their bodies and
faces are completely distorted. With sores taking
the place of make-up and teeth so badly rotten
they fall out. With that description you would think
it would be easy to spot a Meth head. But when
they look like Teresa Jones, that's not the case.
"I'm a recovering Meth addict. I've been clean
now for four and a half years."
Teresa was 28 when she got hooked. A loving
soccer mom and wife looking to loose weight and
gain energy. That's when her so called friend
introduced her to the "Jenny Crank" diet.
"I had a friend that used Meth for weight loss and
she was dropping 20 pounds a week," explains
Jones.
Teresa too lost weight. But she also lost her
family and almost her life.
"I no longer felt that energy and high. I tried killing
myself. After that God gave me a second chance
and I knew then I could never use Meth again."
So she along with other members of the White
County Meth Task Force travel around Northeast
Georgia telling kids about the dangers of the
drug.
"The addiction rate is 95% after one try," says
Sharon Lee, Director of the Meth Task Force.
Through testimonials and pictures of what the
drug can do, the Task Force hopes the students
will take their word for it, and never try Meth!
"Why would anyone want to look like that?" asks
Rabun County High School student Taylor
Copeland. "I think this will help a lot and deter
someone from trying it."
"I know we have a problem with it in school. I have
a friend who doesn't go here anymore because of
it," says student Katie Keller.
Since Meth is no stranger to the high schools,
Teresa knows her presence and story is needed
more than ever, to try and help keep the innocent
high school faces from ever looking like a Meth
face.
For more information on Meth including signs
someone is using log onto www.Anti-Meth.org
White Co. Chamber Advocate
Life + Meth = Death..read article
GPB Investigates The Meth Crisis
Watch the Full Program Online!
White Co. Meth Task Force
Receives National Recognition
DEA agents make a huge drug bust in Gwinnett
County. The Federal Drug Enforcement
Administration in Atlanta, calls it a record seizure
of crystal meth.
Agents discovered 187 pounds of "ice," along
with 41 kilos of cocaine.
The Administration's Ruth Whipple tells WSB's
Ruth Whipple they made the discovery at a home
off of Suwanee Dam Road in Buford, after
following up on a tip.
"The duffel bags that held the drugs were inside
of seven large trashcans that were buried
underneath the ground in the backyard of the
residence," said Whipple.
The find, worth up to $25 million is the largest in
Georgia in a year-and-a-half, and the third
largest seizure in the US this year. 43-year-old
Eduardo Castro Torres, aka "Damian",
28-year-old Julio Ruesga Barajas, aka "Julio",
39-year-old Ignacio Castro Torres, aka "Nacho",
and 25-year-old Jesus Alejandro Valencia Parra,
aka "Medina" have been charged with possession
and intent to distribute methamphetamine and
cocaine.
Two arrested, two sought in record meth
seizure by The Associated Press
ATLANTA - Two men have been arrested and two
more are being sought following the seizure of
more than 300 pounds of methamphetamine in
Gainesville - a record for the state, according to
federal authorities who made the announcement
Wednesday.
Authorities seized 341 pounds of meth on Aug.
21 and 22, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias' office
said.
The investigation began when U.S. Forest
Service officials spotted four people cultivating a
marijuana field inside Chattahoochee National
Forest in Union County, Nahmias said added.
Authorities searched a house connected to the
suspects where they found the meth. The
investigation turned up 300 marijuana plants.
Total value of all the drugs: more than $50 million.
Three brothers, all illegal aliens, have been
arrested and the fourth, also believed to be in the
country illegally, is still at large.
Investigators said the meth had been imported
from Mexico.
(AccessNorthGa.com's Jerry Gunn contributed to
this story.)
Faces of Meth Hits Rabun County.
Megan Heidlberg
WNEG NewsCHANNEL 32
Thursday, November 9, 2006
Nearly two million Americans are addicted to
Meth, according to the White County Meth Task
Force. Agents say it's the number one drug
problem in most counties. Northeast Georgia is
no exception. And, one out of every ten kids will
try Meth and become addicted. To try and curb
this growing epidemic a former Meth addict
sharer her story with students at Rabun County
High School Thursday.
It's called the faces of Meth. Everyday people
addicted to the drug so bad their bodies and
faces are completely distorted. With sores taking
the place of make-up and teeth so badly rotten
they fall out. With that description you would think
it would be easy to spot a Meth head. But when
they look like Teresa Jones, that's not the case.
"I'm a recovering Meth addict. I've been clean
now for four and a half years."
Teresa was 28 when she got hooked. A loving
soccer mom and wife looking to loose weight and
gain energy. That's when her so called friend
introduced her to the "Jenny Crank" diet.
"I had a friend that used Meth for weight loss and
she was dropping 20 pounds a week," explains
Jones.
Teresa too lost weight. But she also lost her
family and almost her life.
"I no longer felt that energy and high. I tried killing
myself. After that God gave me a second chance
and I knew then I could never use Meth again."
So she along with other members of the White
County Meth Task Force travel around Northeast
Georgia telling kids about the dangers of the
drug.
"The addiction rate is 95% after one try," says
Sharon Lee, Director of the Meth Task Force.
Through testimonials and pictures of what the
drug can do, the Task Force hopes the students
will take their word for it, and never try Meth!
"Why would anyone want to look like that?" asks
Rabun County High School student Taylor
Copeland. "I think this will help a lot and deter
someone from trying it."
"I know we have a problem with it in school. I have
a friend who doesn't go here anymore because of
it," says student Katie Keller.
Since Meth is no stranger to the high schools,
Teresa knows her presence and story is needed
more than ever, to try and help keep the innocent
high school faces from ever looking like a Meth
face.
For more information on Meth including signs
someone is using log onto www.Anti-Meth.org
White Co. Chamber Advocate
Life + Meth = Death..read article
GPB Investigates The Meth Crisis
Watch the Full Program Online!
White Co. Meth Task Force
Receives National Recognition
Between Life and Death:
Your Brain on Meth( The Oprah Winfrey Show)
Your Brain on Meth( The Oprah Winfrey Show)
White County News Telegraph - Archives -
Methamphetamine In the Local News
Dispelling meth myths
By Jeremy Styron News Editor Thursday,
November 16, 2006 9:02 AM EST
Melisa Fincher, with the White County Health Department and
the White County Meth Task Force, explains what a meth lab
looks like during a Nov. 9 symposium on methamphetamine at
Rabun County High School. Fincher's ex-husband is a
recovering meth addict.
With the candor that comes from personal experience, Melisa
Fincher told Rabun County High School students Nov. 9 that her
ex-husband was tweaking so bad one night that he was poised
to wage war.
"He thought there were people in his yard with night vision
goggles coming to get him," she said. "He really believed this
stuff was happening."
Fearing that he would take a loaded gun outside and start
shooting, Fincher, with the White County Health Department and
the White County Meth Task Force, had to sit with him through
the night.
The task force held the symposium at the high school to discuss
the perils of methamphetamine. Members of the force alerted
students of warning signs when someone is using meth,
shared testimonies and conducted a question-and-answer
session near the end of the presentation.
Fincher's ex-husband also is the brother of task force founder
Sharon Lee.
Lee said she recalled a surreal scene where men in hazmat
suits stormed her home in search of a meth lab after officers
found drugs in her brother's car.
Another member of the task force, Teresa Jones, met meth head
on when a friend introduced the drug to her under the
pseudonym, "the Jenny Crank Diet." Jones candidly told
students that she once struggled with her image. The drug was
a salve for her bleeding self-conscious.
"I felt great at first," Jones said. "I felt like a Superman. I felt like I
could conquer the world, but that quickly went away."
Jones also quickly fell away from the people she once loved. As
the drug set a vise grip on her life, she moved to Florida, where
her dealer was relocating. She left her husband and two children
behind.
"What they don't tell you is meth deadens every feeling that you
have," she said.
Seemingly in an abysmal state of mind, Jones attempted
suicide while in Florida.
"They don't tell you what's going to happen at the end - that it
leads to death and destruction," she said. "And that's the truth."
Also during the presentation, the task force displayed images of
high school-aged youth who were meth addicts. Greeted by
some murmurs from the crowd, the images detailed how bony
and welt-faced users get while taking meth.
The grim scenes were often highlighted by statements like:
"You'll never worry about lipstick on your teeth again." and "How
cool is this?"
Senior Taylor Copeland recalled seeing symptoms of meth in
some high school students he knows.
"I've known people at the school that were affected by it," he said.
"You can tell if they're on it."
Some warning signs that Fincher pointed out were: disturbed
sleep, bruxism, drastic weight loss, hyperactivity, welts, severe
depression and suicidal tendencies. Fincher also explained that
between 95 and 98 percent of users who try the drug once are
addicted within one year.
Meth triggers the natural body chemical, dopamine. At normal
levels, dopamine "is the one chemical that makes us feel good,"
Fincher said. Such feelings occur when one eats chocolate, for
instance.
"When you do a thing of meth, I've heard it puts out 1,000 times"
that amount, she added. With each successive use, the need for
larger doses grow exponentially.
When their addiction reaches full tilt, meth users feel like they
are exploding inside, Fincher said. Her description was
illustrated on a projector screen by an animalistic-looking man
screaming.
Some questions posed by the students were:
€ Is methadone a type of methamphetamine? Fincher said the
two drugs were not related, though relating the two was a
common mistake.
€ Why do people do it when they know that they can die?
Some are covering up pain in their lives or they are trying to
change a mood, Fincher said. Jones added that peer pressure
also was a factor.
€ After you get hooked on meth, how long does it take you before
you die? Between 90 percent will either be in prison or dead
within five years, Fincher said.
€ One student asked Jones: Do you still have any after effects?
"It took me about two years 'till I was totally, totally clean," Jones
said. She said aside from repairing her splintered family she no
longer had any symptoms except slight and occasional cravings
for the drug. Jones is divorced from the husband she left, but
she still has custody of her two children.
Senior Katie Keller said the task force's personal testimonies hit
home with some of her classmates. "I think that helped a lot
because they can see how real it is - how people can go from
having two kids to not even caring.
"I know there's got to be some out there who are probably
scared who don't know how to get off."
Fincher's ex-husband is making positive progress in his
recovery, Fincher said.
"He's really working on his addiction," she said. "This is the first
time in five years that I hear the man that I loved on the phone
again."
Across Georgia
Addicted Mom Charged with Murder
The State of Georgia is charging a woman for
allegedly causing the death of her baby by taking
drugs while pregnant.
She faces murder charges, after one her twins
died shortly after birth, which prosecutors say
was directly attributed to her use of cocaine and
amphetamines while pregnant.
This is believed to be the first case of its kind to
be prosecuted in Georgia. The woman's lawyer
plans to get a dismissal on the murder charges
on the argument that Georgia law does
not allow it.
Across the Nation
Methamphetamine In the Local News
Dispelling meth myths
By Jeremy Styron News Editor Thursday,
November 16, 2006 9:02 AM EST
Melisa Fincher, with the White County Health Department and
the White County Meth Task Force, explains what a meth lab
looks like during a Nov. 9 symposium on methamphetamine at
Rabun County High School. Fincher's ex-husband is a
recovering meth addict.
With the candor that comes from personal experience, Melisa
Fincher told Rabun County High School students Nov. 9 that her
ex-husband was tweaking so bad one night that he was poised
to wage war.
"He thought there were people in his yard with night vision
goggles coming to get him," she said. "He really believed this
stuff was happening."
Fearing that he would take a loaded gun outside and start
shooting, Fincher, with the White County Health Department and
the White County Meth Task Force, had to sit with him through
the night.
The task force held the symposium at the high school to discuss
the perils of methamphetamine. Members of the force alerted
students of warning signs when someone is using meth,
shared testimonies and conducted a question-and-answer
session near the end of the presentation.
Fincher's ex-husband also is the brother of task force founder
Sharon Lee.
Lee said she recalled a surreal scene where men in hazmat
suits stormed her home in search of a meth lab after officers
found drugs in her brother's car.
Another member of the task force, Teresa Jones, met meth head
on when a friend introduced the drug to her under the
pseudonym, "the Jenny Crank Diet." Jones candidly told
students that she once struggled with her image. The drug was
a salve for her bleeding self-conscious.
"I felt great at first," Jones said. "I felt like a Superman. I felt like I
could conquer the world, but that quickly went away."
Jones also quickly fell away from the people she once loved. As
the drug set a vise grip on her life, she moved to Florida, where
her dealer was relocating. She left her husband and two children
behind.
"What they don't tell you is meth deadens every feeling that you
have," she said.
Seemingly in an abysmal state of mind, Jones attempted
suicide while in Florida.
"They don't tell you what's going to happen at the end - that it
leads to death and destruction," she said. "And that's the truth."
Also during the presentation, the task force displayed images of
high school-aged youth who were meth addicts. Greeted by
some murmurs from the crowd, the images detailed how bony
and welt-faced users get while taking meth.
The grim scenes were often highlighted by statements like:
"You'll never worry about lipstick on your teeth again." and "How
cool is this?"
Senior Taylor Copeland recalled seeing symptoms of meth in
some high school students he knows.
"I've known people at the school that were affected by it," he said.
"You can tell if they're on it."
Some warning signs that Fincher pointed out were: disturbed
sleep, bruxism, drastic weight loss, hyperactivity, welts, severe
depression and suicidal tendencies. Fincher also explained that
between 95 and 98 percent of users who try the drug once are
addicted within one year.
Meth triggers the natural body chemical, dopamine. At normal
levels, dopamine "is the one chemical that makes us feel good,"
Fincher said. Such feelings occur when one eats chocolate, for
instance.
"When you do a thing of meth, I've heard it puts out 1,000 times"
that amount, she added. With each successive use, the need for
larger doses grow exponentially.
When their addiction reaches full tilt, meth users feel like they
are exploding inside, Fincher said. Her description was
illustrated on a projector screen by an animalistic-looking man
screaming.
Some questions posed by the students were:
€ Is methadone a type of methamphetamine? Fincher said the
two drugs were not related, though relating the two was a
common mistake.
€ Why do people do it when they know that they can die?
Some are covering up pain in their lives or they are trying to
change a mood, Fincher said. Jones added that peer pressure
also was a factor.
€ After you get hooked on meth, how long does it take you before
you die? Between 90 percent will either be in prison or dead
within five years, Fincher said.
€ One student asked Jones: Do you still have any after effects?
"It took me about two years 'till I was totally, totally clean," Jones
said. She said aside from repairing her splintered family she no
longer had any symptoms except slight and occasional cravings
for the drug. Jones is divorced from the husband she left, but
she still has custody of her two children.
Senior Katie Keller said the task force's personal testimonies hit
home with some of her classmates. "I think that helped a lot
because they can see how real it is - how people can go from
having two kids to not even caring.
"I know there's got to be some out there who are probably
scared who don't know how to get off."
Fincher's ex-husband is making positive progress in his
recovery, Fincher said.
"He's really working on his addiction," she said. "This is the first
time in five years that I hear the man that I loved on the phone
again."
Across Georgia
Addicted Mom Charged with Murder
The State of Georgia is charging a woman for
allegedly causing the death of her baby by taking
drugs while pregnant.
She faces murder charges, after one her twins
died shortly after birth, which prosecutors say
was directly attributed to her use of cocaine and
amphetamines while pregnant.
This is believed to be the first case of its kind to
be prosecuted in Georgia. The woman's lawyer
plans to get a dismissal on the murder charges
on the argument that Georgia law does
not allow it.
Across the Nation
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