In this video we’ll see how community involvement can make a difference. One grassroots program that began in America’s heartland is now a model for the rest of the country. A frontier city of 50,000 people is addressing all facets of the meth problem, from helping drug endangered children to increasing treatment capacity. We’ll also discuss how the Montana Meth Project is utilizing alarming ads and the Internet, all aimed at keeping teens from trying meth… even once.
Also, hear from a recovering meth addict about her struggle and ultimate triumph over one of the most addicting drugs ever. Together, we can help melt the ice!
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the scope of the national methamphetamine problem
- Find out why meth is so dangerous to the users, community members, and law enforcement
- See what community groups are doing to fight the problem
- Hear “straight talk” from a former methamphetamine addict
Originally Aired: May 18, 2006
Host & Panelists
Mary Elizabeth Larson
(Host) Vice President, Communications and Membership, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
Sgt. Jim Wingo
Missouri Highway Patrol
Jim Wingo is presently a narcotics investigator with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and has been assigned to the division of drug and crime control since 1989. Wingo has served in law enforcement since 1978, with the last 22 years in the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He has worked in Narcotics since 1989, with emphasis on clandestine labs. He began his Clan Lab Enforcement training in 1996, and from 2000-2004, was Clan Lab Training Coordinator for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Cristi Cain
State Coordinator for the Kansas Methamphetamine Prevention Project
Cain has worked in communities across Kansas implementing strategies that have proven successful in addressing the meth problem. She has presented and provided training at local, state, and national levels and has provided testimony at a Congressional hearing. In March of 2006, Cain received an Office of National Drug Control Policy Director’s Award for Distinguished Service for her dedication and leadership in combating methamphetamine.
Cristi received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Kansas State University. She has received specialized training in methamphetamine addiction and drug endangered children’s issues, and has received clandestine laboratory certification.
Tom Pagel
Chief of Police, Casper, WY
Tom Pagel is a lead player in his city’s efforts to reduce meth use and meth-related problems. Prior to his tenure as the Chief of Police, Pagel served as the director of the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation for 12 years. During Pagel’s tenure as director, the DCI team developed the Wyoming Methamphetamine Initiative and ensured the passage of HB-59, the controlled substance bill.
Pagel started with DCI in 1979. He was the 1989 recipient of the Wyoming Peace Officer of the Year Award and the 1999 recipient of the Western Governors’ Association George S. Mickelson Memorial Fellowship. He is the past president of the national alliance of State Drug Enforcement Agencies and the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program. He has also served as the chairman of the Governor’s Substance Abuse and Violent Crime Advisory Board and the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies.
Vicki Sickels
Former meth addict, Chemical Dependency Counselor
Vicki Sickels became addicted to methamphetamine in 1988 and finally gained lasting recovery a decade later after receiving long-term residential treatment. She then became certified as a substance abuse counselor and obtained her Master Social Worker License from the University of Iowa. She is currently employed as the chemical dependency counselor for a methamphetamine research program at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines and does prevention work for the AIDS Project of Central Iowa.
You can view this broadcast at no cost from any site with a satellite dish having C-band downlink capabilities. All viewing sites must register in advance to receive the necessary satellite coordinates. To register, contact Ed Kronholm at 877-820-0305 or dlnets@aol.com. Web Site: www.dlnets.com/MCTFT2nd.htm . The broadcast also will be webcast live at www.cadca.org, www.health.org, and www.MCTFT.com.
This broadcast is made possible through a partnership with the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training Program (MCTFT), St. Petersburg College and the Florida National Guard.