Jan Tice has a story about methamphetamine addiction.
The director of Janus of Santa Cruz, a substance abuse treatment center, tells his story of a meth addict who lost his business, almost lost his daughter and was a gun-click away from losing his life.
This particular gentleman owned a card room and bar. And he employed a bouncer who was with a biker gang.
"I was using cocaine," Tice said. "He (the bouncer) introduced me to meth. He said it was a better high and it would last longer."
That was 22 years ago. These days, Tice is an expert in the recovery field where he now sees more and more people addicted to what used to be his drug of choice.
Ask rehab facilities, cops or social workers these days and they say Santa Cruz County has, albeit bit belatedly, become part of the meth abuse trend that has gripped the nation during the past decade or so.
Cheap to buy and fairly easy to produce, methamphetamine is a form of speed that can come in a crystal-like powder or rock-like chunks. It can be snorted, smoked or injected. Meth is often called "speed," "crank," and "crystal."
| As crack cocaine was to the ’80s and heroin was to the ’90s, meth is increasingly the drug of choice for a new millennium. |
"Santa Cruz is a little bit behind the rest of the country, but we are certainly catching up," said Bill Manov, county Alcohol and Drug Program administrator. "We’re starting to see that as meth use goes up, heroin as the drug of choice is going down. I think the epidemic has been slower to hit Santa Cruz, but it is definitely here now."
Statistics paint part of the picture:
"Meth is a horrible problem right now," said Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Steve Carney, who works in the narcotics division.
Meth users, sometimes called "tweakers," tend to be more excitable, even violent, and unpredictable. And staying up for days on end, called a "run," gives them time to contemplate how to commit crimes to support their habit, Robbins said.
This year, the Sheriff’s Office began keeping statistics on offenses like property crimes, domestic violence and mail theft to see how often methamphetamine is involved.
Meth is readily available in the county, but it is not necessarily produced here. The last big meth lab bust in the county was in 2003, said Rich Westphal of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.
The Central Valley has been and continues to be a source, but agents are also seeing the drug flowing in from the Bay Area, Southern California and most likely from Mexico.
Once the domain of biker gangs, meth is manufactured by drug cartels as well as just everyday people who learn to make it for themselves and friends, sharing the recipe with others.
"It’s like bakers exchanging a cake recipe," Westphal said. "You don’t have to be a scientist to make it."
Far-reaching effects On the social service end of the matter, the county is seeing more families being disrupted by the drug.
This past January a record number of cases were in Dependency Court. That month, there were 61 cases involving 31 families in court, about one third of them involved meth users, said Jewel Roberts, head of the child welfare division.
Meth abuse, and substance abuse in general, is straining the department’s efforts at finding foster homes for kids.
"In general, we don’t have enough foster homes in Santa Cruz County," Roberts said. "We could use as many as possible."
Sandra, a recovering addict, has been in and out of rehab for the past year.
She first got help for meth abuse after prematurely giving birth to her son.
At first, meth gave her energy, made her feel powerful.
"I felt like I was really strong," Sandra said. "I would get things done. I would work really fast."
Eventually, though, her use evolved into an $80 per day habit. She stole from the deli where she worked to support her habit. Her weight dipped from 180 pounds to 115. She lost her job because she didn’t have the energy to go to work.
When she gave birth to her son, Child Protective Services took the baby away because meth was in his system.
Yet, even after the birth of her son, she would use while at rehab facilities, getting other people to take her urine tests for her.
After nearly getting kicked out of Drug Court a couple of weeks ago, she said she is now focused on her recovery.
"I’m not just here for my kid, I’m here for me," Sandra said. "If I can’t take care of myself, I can’t take care of him."
Tough to kick Treatment professionals also say the drug is causing unique problems as it appears harder to kick than others.
Substance abuse counselors say the swing from euphoria to depression is swift. Meth users stay up long hours. Some clean house like fanatics.
Drug abuse recovery follows a familiar master blueprint — detox, rehabilitation and counseling, and adhering to the 12-step recovery process originally pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous but applicable to other drugs.
But counselors say meth is proving to be a more devious beast than other drugs.
Addiction problems can arise in a matter of months, experts say, whereas counselors sometimes don’t see meth addicts seeking help until years, sometimes even a decade or so, into their addiction.
The withdrawal period is longer than other drugs, said Manov. And once a person gets over acute withdrawals, the craving remains strong.
How it works Meth attacks the part of the brain that affects cognitive functioning called the orbital-frontal cortex, explained Tice. That affects problem-solving skills, comprehension and decision-making. That part of the brain is the part that says "no" to pleasure-seeking parts of the brain, Tice said.
"Methamphetamine is a particularly nasty drug to the brain and it does it quickly," Tice said. "It’s hard for people to recover when they can’t think, can’t solve problems."
While a 30-day stay in residential rehabilitation is the norm for most drugs, a meth addict needs about three to six months in a structured environment, Tice said.
For Tice, the faces he sees addicts at the center on 7th Avenue tell stories eerily similar to his own.
Four stints in rehab. Working the 12 steps. One overdose.
"I don’t think anybody goes through treatment because it is so gosh-darn fun," he said. "There would be times when I would tell you I’m not going to use. I’d be serious to the core about not using."
And like the addicts he counsels today, he really meant it.
He even studied the science and biology of his addiction, trying to figure out why he was doing what he was doing.
Hitting bottom came after a three-day binge. Tice was at least a considerate suicidal addict.
He got his 9 mm pistol and put three garbage bags over his head. He put the gun in his mouth.
"I pulled the trigger and it went ‘clack,’ " Tice recalled.
He had hid the clip during his binge and forgot just where he put it.
To this day, he can’t pinpoint his sobriety date, an occasion most recovering addicts mark as their first day of not using. But he now knows a bit about how he quit and he’s glad he did not lose custody of his daughter during that time.
Rather than fighting it alone, he began to rely on fellow recovering addicts, structuring his life to avoid triggers that caused him to use and attending 12-step meetings, the same advice he now dispenses to clients at Janus.
"I just said, ‘I’ll go back to the meetings. I’ll quit trying to figure it out and I’ll do what I am told.’ "
Contact Brian Seals at bseals@santacruzsentinel.com.
Pending state and federal legislation regarding methamphetamine STATE
FEDERAL
The bill authored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-California and Jim Talent, R-Missouri, would:
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Friday that would force retailers to put products containing pseudoephederine behind the counter.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and Jim Talent, R-Missouri, is intended to fight methamphetamine production.
Pseudoephederine is a common ingredient in over-the-county cold medicine and also a key ingredient in producing methamphetamine.
Some area pharmacies said they would have no problem abiding with the bill should it become law.
"It (meth) is a rampant problem, that sounds like one good possible solution," said Tim Leal of Hornsyder Pharmacy in Santa Cruz. "We would be happy to accommodate that kind of ruling."
The law would be somewhat burdensome for small pharmacies, but worthwhile in general, said Chris Quesenberry at Westside Pharmacy.
While meth labs haven’t been a huge problem here, she said that could change.
"I imagine that if they didn’t curb it now, it would become a big problem," Quesenberry said.
Aside from putting pseudoephederine products behind the counter, it would also limit purchase of the product to 7.5 grams per month.
The bill is based on a similar state law in Oklahoma credited with helping reduce the number of meth labs in that state. It now heads to a conference committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Earlier this year, after the bill was introduced, a string of chain stores agreed to voluntarily put such products behind the counter, including Longs Drugs, Albertsons, Rite Aid, and Target, according to Feinstein’s office.
California already has a law, under Health and Safety Code Section 11100, that limits purchases of pseudoephederine products to three packages per visit.
The rules may not eliminate methamphetamine production, but they do curb it by slowing them down and cutting into their bottom line, said Rich Westphal of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.
Meth cooks can get around laws by shopping around at different stores or hiring others to buy it for them.
"It slows them down and it’s an added cost," Westphal said.
Contact Brian Seals at bseals@santacruzsentinel.com.
