Students Learn Meth Dangers
Posted: October 26, 2012 at 5:30 a.m.
Rick McLeod, a volunteer with the Benton County Methamphetamine Task Force, talks Thursday to seventh-graders about the dangers of using meth at Benton County School of the Arts in Rogers. The presentation comes during the school’s red ribbon week and during Benton County’s Meth Awareness Month. Students from sixth to eighth grade across Benton County will be taught about the dangers of meth during the month.
Benton County School of the Arts seventh- and eighth-graders spent a portion of Thursday learning about the dangers of methamphetamine.
At A Glance
McDaniel To Speak
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel will be the keynote speaker at the annual Benton County Methamphetamine Awareness and Prevention Luncheon. The event will be at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 2 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers.
Source: Staff Report
This story is only available from our archives.
(Advertisement)
« Previous Story
Iced Tea Leads To Arrests In Copper Case
A gallon of Red Diamond iced tea led Rogers Police to arrest five people in connection with causing damages and stealing copper wire valued at more than $900,000 this summe... Read »
Next Story »
Peel Park Has Family Feel
Stately old trees at Dave Peel Park dropped big yellow leaves alongside picnic tables and swing sets as famili... Read »
Comments
To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.
It's a good thing to educate our young people about drugs.
It's a bad thing to give them false information in an attempt to scare them away from experimentation.
McLeod reportedly told the students that 98 percent of people who use methamphetamine become addicted after their first time using it. This is not accurate information.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports "Repeated methamphetamine abuse can also lead to addiction—a chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, which is accompanied by chemical and molecular changes in the brain."
There is difference between "first use" and "repeated use."
The students probably already know this, however. Many of them will know a fellow student who tried it once or twice, or more times, and did not become addicted.
When I was a teenager in the 1970's, adults did the same thing, used scare tactics and told lies about the dangers of marijuana in an attempt to control our behavior. Those of us who tried it anyway quickly learned that we were being lied to. It did not make us crazy, mad and violent, or go blind. Many of us then asked, "If they are lying to us about this, what else are they lying about?" THAT is the real danger: our young people learning that they can and will be manipulated through lies from the very adults who claim to have their best interest at heart.
Lying is never the way to help people make wise choices. Tell the truth, McLeod, and others. It's the best way to get the trust of the very audience you are trying to influence.
Posted by: SPA
October 26, 2012 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
98% addiction rate for first time use of methamphetamine is a very common statistic. Although some people do not get addicted the first time they use this drug, most do. This drug causes effects on the users body and brain that have shown are irreversible. I think that it is hard to say what will be your specific rate of addiction, therefore it is best to go with the most commonly recognized stat for this substace.
Studies have shown that scare tactics do not work. Therefore the purpose of the meth awareness presentations to students is not to scare them but to educate them on this substance. It is then that student's choice on whether they choose to use the drug or not. The presentation shows the effects of methamphetamine which are inarguably terrible. The presentation gives students a chance to ask questions and an open discussion about this substance.
Hopefully through this education and awareness we will end up with fewer users in our community. I have seen Mr. McLeod conduct these presentations and he is a wonderful volunteer who wants to assist with making our community an even better place to live.
Posted by: MeganC
October 26, 2012 at 12:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I agree with SPA. They told us the same thing about MJ in the 60's. Back the the figure was 95%. I guess if you can make up and get people to believe 95, the you can naturally move to 98. Isn't it the news person's job to question this figure. Wonder why McLeod doesn't talk to them about the most dangerous drug of all, alcohol. Maybe cause he uses it.
Posted by: Moneymyst
October 26, 2012 at 3:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
The people that would defend Meth and say anyone is lying about the dangers of it's addiction are ignorant on the issue and Meth isn't the weed of the 60s. When are the hippies going to wake up and smell the sobreity.Wonder why they are so up in arms. Maybe they are tweekers.
Posted by: Tankersley101
October 26, 2012 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
No one, that I've seen in the comments is defending Meth. The only thing I've seen are comments questioning the 98% number and where it came from.
Some of the other comments are correct, if you throw up some BS numbers (and let's face it 98% as a stat for almost *anything* screams BS) you're going to make students suspicious of any further information.
In education we spend years teaching kids critical thinking skills but then hope they just accept some knowledge without question.
Teach them the actual facts and lead them to the correct decisions. Enabling the kids to decide for themselves that Meth is a very very bad thing will end in a better result.
Posted by: Nilatir
October 26, 2012 at 6:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Tank, I don't think anyone is defending methamphetamine.
The waste of tax money chasing a problem that will cure itself, if left alone for a generation or two, is what disturbs those fiscally responsible Republicans amongst us.
Posted by: GenBuckTurgidson
October 26, 2012 at 9:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
http://rehab-international.org/crysta...
"Crystal meth is notorious for the insidious claws it digs into victims. The ability to make logical, healthy decisions becomes compromised through abuse of meth. The very first time a user tries meth, a neurological shift occurs. Meth damages the brain in such a way that the brain’s reward pathway and circuitry is permanently altered."
The last sentence in the above quote from Rehab International probably explains the 98% figure.
All youths think they are immortal. The only thing that gets through to them is the visual images of meth users. Similar to the 70's program "Scared Straight".
Cuss and discuss it all you want. The only way to get through to the youth today is to make the use as unattractive as possible.
@SPA, in another post today about Romney you stated that you were voting for Obama, and yet you say you tried weed in your youth and were undamaged. If you say so...
Posted by: patrioteer
October 26, 2012 at 9:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RE "Meth damages the brain in such a way that the brain’s reward pathway and circuitry is permanently altered."
There is nothing here to indicate that meth creates addiction in 98% of people with its first use. First, it does not say that the specified damage is immediate, or that it is not incremental. Second, brain damage is not in and of itself addictive, or a sign of addiction. People are born with different levels of addictive tendency.
Being hit by a car can permanently alter the brain's reward pathway, but that doesn't cause people to become addicted to being hit by cars.
Posted by: AlphaCat
October 26, 2012 at 10:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
what the educator should have been talking to them about is all the poisons that are put together to make this stuff. Then you have addicts that are selling powders that contain GOD ONLY knows what other filler powders. The meth mouth that scares people on the viewing end and the sores all over their bodies . Ammonia is a common ingredient and how many people would like to snort or inject that straight?? I have seen people loose their jobs, families and lives over this drug. I just hope the educator got thru to these kids no matter what the true percentages were. Arguing over percentages will not fix this serious problem.
Posted by: oldrustynut
October 27, 2012 at 5:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Registration is required to make comments. Click here to LOGIN.
You can register for FREE to post comments and receive alerts.