Kristen Lewis speaks to the large crowd at the Gilmer anti-meth meeting at the First Baptist Church of Ellijay.
Photo by Dub Joiner
by Dub Joiner
Staff Writer
dubjoiner@timescourier.com
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Kristen Lewis speaks to the large crowd at the Gilmer anti-meth meeting at the First Baptist Church of Ellijay.
Photo by Dub Joiner
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More than 300 people attended a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 24, at the First Baptist Church of Ellijay, aimed at educating citizens about the dangerous threat that the use and manufacture of methamphetamine is to the community.
The meeting was arranged by Kristen Lewis, executive director of the Appalachian Children’s Center, and is one of three such “Anti-Meth” presentations held recently in the Appalachian Judicial Circuit.
Others were held in Jasper and Blue Ridge.
During the meeting, Superior Court Judge Brenda Weaver told the audience that the Appalachian circuit is one of the top circuits in Georgia for meth problems.
“It’s a major problem in Gilmer for adults, as well as children,” said Weaver. “It’s easy to become addicted but hard to get off it.”
She said the only way to stop or even slow it down is for everyone to become educated about it.
Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson said he has never seen anything that controls life as crystal meth does. “I’ve had parents beg me to lock their kids up so they won’t come home and find them dead,” said Nicholson.
“From what I’ve seen, drugs touch as much as 80 percent of the residents of this county, and meth is the fastest growing drug in the county, probably the state and nation,” Nicholson added.
“It’s hurting families from the poorest to the most well-off.”
During the presentation, a video was shown entitled, “Georgia’s Meth Epidemic”, in which the dangers of meth were shown and the way it affects families and individuals.
Also speaking at the meeting were several former addicts who said meth can be found everywhere, and it has the makings of a bomb.
The film also explained the explosive nature of a meth lab, several of which have been found and destroyed in Gilmer County.
Credit was given to something called, “Drug Court,” and the requirements of the court in helping the addicts in getting off the drug.
One former addict said the drug “takes complete control of life, and it respects no one.”
“Until meth users change their thinking, we can’t stop it,” the former addict said.
Another presenter, Marian Fladland called meth, “an epidemic in the area, and that addicts don’t love themselves. They are sick.”
Near the end of the presentation, it was noted that federal funds to fight such things as meth problems were being cut as much as 50 percent by Congress, and that calls to congressmen and senators were needed to ask that the funds be restored.