The Partnership for a Drug-Free America has launched Meth360, a  multidisciplinary community outreach program designed to enhance community efforts to deal with the impact of methamphetamine, and mobilize parents and concerned citizens to take action to prevent meth use.

Created in 2006 with funding from the United States Department of Justice, Meth360 pairs teams of law enforcement officers with substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals to co-deliver meth awareness presentations at local business and civic organizations, schools and parent groups. By encouraging presenters to work in teams and bring their own experiences and anecdotes to the presentation, Meth360 offers audiences a “360-degree” perspective of the meth issue. For presenters, Meth360 helps build bridges between law enforcement and social services providers in their efforts to protect families and communities from substance abuse.

Meth360 was pilot-tested in four regions, with support from four lead law enforcement agencies. The Partnership recruited and trained presenters in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Albany, New York; Pierce and King Counties, Washington and Fairfax and Prince William Counties in Northern Virginia. During the nine-month pilot, 170 volunteer presenters from all three disciplines delivered 200 presentations, reaching 7,100 community members.

“Communities must be involved if we are to win the fight against drugs,” said Sergeant James Cox of the Fairfax County Police Department, one of the first agencies participating in Meth360. “Meth360 has aided our Department in forming partnerships with the communities we serve-and with our own government- by delivering the extremely powerful message that accompanies this campaign. These partnerships will be long-lasting and treasured, and if other jurisdictions have the same success we have had with Meth360, I truly believe methamphetamine can be a drug of the past.”

Audience evaluations in the pilot areas indicate that 93 percent of those who saw the presentation said Meth360 “taught them more” about methamphetamine and 86 percent reported they would “take action” to help protect their community.

Subsequent research, conducted by The Police Executive Research Forum, shows that 100 percent of presenters who responded to a survey would recommend Meth360 to communities interested in raising awareness about meth use, and 98 percent stated that the multidisciplinary approach enhanced the program’s credibility.

The Partnership has now expanded Meth360 into ten new states, and has recruited lead law enforcement agencies to help establish and expand the program in each state. Meth360 is now operating in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas. Program participants are using a new Web site, www.drugfree.org/meth360, to train themselves to deliver and coordinate presentations. This resource is available to all agencies, free of charge, and includes all materials needed to implement Meth360.

With additional funding from the Office of Justice of Programs and the COPS Office, the Partnership is expanding Meth360 into ten more states in 2008-Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico, West Virginia and Wisconsin-and is creating youth, parent and Spanish-language versions of the presentation.

To learn more about Meth360, please visit www.drugfree.org/meth360 or email meth360@drugfree.org.

What are the street names/slang terms for Methamphetamine?
Chalk, Crank, Croak, Crypto, Crystal, Fire, Glass, Meth, Tweek , White Cross.

What is Methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine (Meth) is an addictive stimulant that strongly activates certain systems in the brain.

What does it look like?
Meth is a crystal-like powdered substance that sometimes comes in large rock-like chunks. When the powder flakes off the rock, the shards look like glass, which is another nickname for meth. Meth is usually white or slightly yellow, depending on the purity.

How is it used?
Methamphetamine can be taken orally, injected, snorted, or smoked.

What are its short-term effects?
Immediately after smoking or injection, the user experiences an intense sensation, called a “rush” or “flash,” that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Snorting or swallowing meth produces euphoria - a high, but not a rush. After the initial “rush,” there is typically a state of high agitation that in some individuals can lead to violent behavior. Other possible immediate effects include increased wakefulness and insomnia, decreased appetite, irritability/aggression, anxiety, nervousness, convulsions and heart attack.

What are its long-term effects?
Meth is addictive, and users can develop a tolerance quickly, needing larger amounts to get high. In some cases, users forego food and sleep and take more meth every few hours for days, ‘binging’ until they run out of the drug or become too disorganized to continue. Chronic use can cause paranoia, hallucinations, repetitive behavior (such as compuslively cleaning, grooming or disasembling and assembling objects), and delusions of parasites or insects crawling under the skin. Users can obsessively scratch their skin to get rid of these imagined insects. Long-term use, high dosages, or both can bring on full-blown toxic psychosis (often exhibited as violent, aggressive behavior). This violent, aggressive behavior is usually coupled with extreme paranoia. Meth can also cause strokes and death.

What is its federal classification?
Schedule II
Source
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)